


Ghosts of the Past

by Dermenore



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Canon Continuation, Gen, Overwatch - Freeform, Video Game, science-fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-11-13 16:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11188761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dermenore/pseuds/Dermenore
Summary: Jack Morrison was a hero. Then, he was betrayed by his closest friend. The world declared him dead. But, in secret, Jack survived. He took the identity of the vigilante Soldier 76. Now, Jack hunts those who destroyed his life.When a whistleblower publishes information's than can help him, Soldier 76 will do everything to recover these data's. How far is he ready to go in his quest for justice?





	1. Introduction

_By the middle of the 21st century, humans had developed a new type of artificial intelligence, called omnics. The aim of these robots was to serve humanity and bring on a new golden era. Yet, they turned out to be unproductive and the Omnium, the gigantic machine-factories that produced the omnics, were deactivated._

_Years later, the Omnium reactivated themselves, producing masses of military omnics that attacked humanity. This conflict was called Crisis Omnic and it wreaked havoc around the world. A number of governments thought they'd be able to manage the crisis, but none of them succeeded._

_The UN then assembled troops of soldiers from all over the world in an attempt to defeat the omnics. This team was called Overwatch, and placed under the command of Gabriel Reyes, one of the best American soldiers._

_Overwatch launched a series of flash strikes against the Omnium, deactivating them and their armies. The team became immediate heroes. Their squad became an army, with the goal of maintaining world peace._

_The leadership of this new force was entrusted to Jack Morrison. His style of command which prioritized his soldiers' survival, was considered more appropriate than that of Reyes, who put the success of the mission above everything else._

_For twenty years, the Overwatch mission ran efficiently. The organization expanded its scope by launching humanitarian missions and setting up scientific programs, while the Overwatch members became emblematic models for the world._

_But this glory is gradually fading. In recent years, Overwatch has received more and more serious criticisms. Its cynics accused the organization of mismanagement, corruption, being responsible for weapon proliferation and human rights violations._

_Recently, a secret division of Overwatch, called "Blackwatch" commissioned by Gabriel Reyes, was revealed. Rumors have started to spread about the suspicious methods of this shadow organization, suggesting blackmail, kidnapping, torture, assassination and even worse. Since then, many governments and powerful multinationals have called for an end to Overwatch, forcing the UN to launch an investigation into the reality of these claims._


	2. Chapter 1

Bullets raced just over Morrison before drilling into the wall, exactly where his head had been a second earlier. At superhuman speed, the commander threw himself under a table, jumped back up and whipped out his handgun. He shot two bullets in the attacker's torso, knocking him to the floor.

Jack Morrison was a tall man with the tough, military build. He had salt and pepper hair and his eyes were of a beautiful light blue. He was dressed in the Overwatch uniform, the same color as his eyes. His badge showed that he was commander-in-chief of the organization.

He'd started the day with the normal routine: he'd done his morning exercises and eaten breakfast, before having a look at the first daily news briefs.

That's when someone had fired a rocket at his desk.

The armored window and Morrison's ultra-rapid reflexes—accelerated by his genetic modifications —had saved his life. The building was clearly under attack; all communications had been cut off.

How was this possible? Morrison was at Overwatch's headquarters in Switzerland, one of the highest security buildings in the world, in one of the safest regions on the planet.

But he'd seen too many unbelievable things in his life, nothing could shock him now. He took out his handgun and started to inch cautiously towards the armory, just before being attacked by the assailant, whoever he was.

Morrison had experience in combat fighting for decades. He fired a few shots, then dove under cover to dodge the bullets from the attacker he'd shot down. Or at least, he thought he'd shot him down, but then he saw him getting up again. Under his black tunic, behind the Morrison's bullet holes, he saw his bullet-proof vest.

"Damn it!" Morrison cursed.

His handgun wasn't powerful enough to break through the protection, and his two attackers wore helmets with visors. If he had his normal equipment, Jack could pick them off in a matter of seconds. But he couldn't carry an assault rifle on him 24/7.

Morrison dove to the ground, dodging a new swarm of bullets coming at him. These people were good, he had to give it to them. If it weren't for his superhuman reflexes, Morrison would have been dead already.

He surged up and sprinted towards them. Morrison dodged a crossfire bullet before pounding his fist right into one of the attacker's heads. He nailed him hard and the shooter staggered backwards.

Morrison heard a noise behind him. He responded half a second too late and took a violent blow to the shoulder. The other had attacker had slipped behind him and knocked him down, sending him flying a few meters

Then Morrison heard a shout. "Commander! Take this!"

He knew that voice, it was Lieutenant Anong Konda on the building's security forces. Morrison turned and saw an assault rifle thrown at him.

He grabbed the weapon in mid-air and shifted over as his two opponents started shooting at him again. Morrison fired a rapid succession of bullets into the assailant's torsos, killing them instantly.

Lieutenant Anong, ran over. Originally from Thailand, she was a tall woman with a caring face, brown eyes and long black hair. She wore the Overwatch officer gear: a blue uniform, a lightweight bullet-proof armor, handgun and the automatic rifle that she'd thrown to Morrison.

"Thanks, Lieutenant," said Morrison. "What's your report on the situation?"

"A few minutes ago," Anong started, "all the detection and communication systems shut down. Then these guys came at us from all sides. Not too many of them but they're well-trained and they've got a highly organized attack strategy. They knew exactly where to hit."

"And your partner?"

"They got him, Commander," she said with rage in her voice.

"Cover me as I check out the bodies."

"Ok, Commander."

Morrison turned to the two attackers as the officer stood on the look-out.

"They're not dressed like Talon troops," he said to Anong, looking at one of their guns. "And they're too well-armed to be anti-omnic radicals. Could be the special forces of an anti-Overwatch government or the armed forces of a firm we've already convicted," he added, lifting the black tunic to look at his under-armor.

He took off the attacker's helmet and couldn't help but let out a sound of surprise

"What is it, Commander?" Anong asked.

"I know this guy. He's one of Reyes' best agents, a member of BlackWatch."

He took off the other one's helmet, revealing a woman's face.

"She's a member of BlackWatch too," he said.

"What does this mean, Commander?"

"I'm not sure yet."

Or rather, he refused to admit it. Could Reyes be betraying him? After all they'd been through: the omnium crisis and twenty years of defending world peace? There had been tensions in their relationships recently, differences in how to deal with Overwatch crisis. But to go from that to an attack was unimaginable.

And yet, two BlackWatch members had just tried to kill him.

"We've got to get to the armory," he said to Anong, handing her the gun and taking the dead attacker's weapons. This was urgent, there wasn't a second to loose.

"But isn't the armory their main target?" asked the lieutenant, following behind.

"Yes, but we have no choice. Most of the agents in the building aren't armed. And I think we'll need everyone we can get to fight back."

"Got it, Commander."

They cautiously made their way to the armory. Gunshots and screams of pain echoed throughout the building, but Anong and Morrison kept walking through.

When they got there, Jack was glad to see one of his agents guarding armory door, behind tables he'd propped up.

"Good to see you commander," said the agent, a very young man with copper skin, brown eyes and short black hair. "I've secured the armory according to protocol."

At first, young man seemed clearly nervous and stressed. But now that he was with the Overwatch commander, he seemed to have pulled himself together.

"Agent Chucho, right? You've done well. Cover me while I gear up."

Morrison opened the door of the armory, took one step forward, and took a blow right in the face from the butt of a rifle. He fell to the ground.

"Hello, Jack," Gabriel said.

One of the BlackWatch leader's shotguns was pointing at him. It was a powerful, massive weapon that usually needed two hands to grip. But Reyes had been, like Jack, genetically modified, which gave him the strength to handle it with just one.

"Damn it, Gabriel, what's wrong with you?! Have you lost your mind?!

"Since you can't handle the problems with Overwatch, I decided to take it into my own hands."

Gabriel was visibly older than Morrison, given his wrinkles and his short, white hair. He was dressed in a pitch-black undercover tunic with the BlackWatch logo, as well as the Overwatch one. He carried only a belt of ammunition on him.

"And do you really think people will trust us again if we kill each other?! You're just bringing us closer to our demise!"

"Of course," replied Reyes. We've protected them for twenty years, but somehow it's us who has to 'regain the trust' of these selfish idiots. It's exactly that mentality that got us into this situation."

In the corner of his eye, Morrison saw that Anong and Chucho were face to face with four BlackWatch agents who'd arrived when he opened the armory, each opponent pointing their weapons at each other, motionless. Chucho, however, still slowly inched closer to him and Reyes.

"Gabriel, I know it's a difficult time," Jack said. "And the leaks that exposed your division aren't helping. But believe me, as soon as it's clear that the accusations against BlackWatch have no grounding, they'll have no choice but to back off.

An amused grin appeared on Gabriel's face. Morrison widened his eyes for a good second, staring at his old friend in amazement.

"So it's all true? Blackmail, kidnapping, torture?"

Reyes cocked his rifle.

"Talon killed you, Jack," he said. "They brought down all the officers in our headquarters. But don't worry. You'll be avenged. By me."

He pressed down on the trigger and at the same time, Chucho lunged between them. The shot hit him full force.

Screaming, Morrison leapt up, grabbed Reyes by the shoulders and threw him out of the armory. Anong rushed into the room as the members of BlackWatch started to open fire. Jack slammed the door behind her and rushed to the locking device.

"Emergency lock in!" he shouted into intercom. Authorization: D-3-B-Q-1-8!"

"Authorization accepted," replied the monotone auto-command voice.

A click confirmed that the doors were now tightly closed. Their armor was resistant to hand weapons, which would bide them some time. Morrison knelt beside Chucho. He was still breathing.

"Will…you…tell…my ... family ... what ...happened...?" he asked, his voice breathless with pain.

"You'll tell them yourself, son," Jack said softly, lifting Chucho's body. "Open it, hurry!" he said to Anong, pointing to a metal box.

"We...never...doubted...you...commander," whispered Chucho as Anong rushed to the locker to open it.

"I know, son. I'm very grateful."

The lieutenant removed a cylindrical metal object from the locker, with a red cross engraved on the top. She brought it to Morrison, having no idea what to do with it.

Morrison lay Chucho on a bench, took the cylinder and with a controlled gesture, placed it next Chucho and activated a mechanism on it. The cylinder rose slightly as it opened, revealing a softly glowing heart. It seemed to be releasing something. Chucho sighed in relief.

"What is it?" Anong asked

"A biotic field generator," replied Morrison. "It diffuses short-range medical nanites. I asked the research department to develop a first aid device for the soldiers and they came up with these prototypes. They were going to test them next week."

Jack looked at Chucho.

"He'll survive," he said, relieved.

"What's the plan now, Commander?" asked the lieutenant.

"You stay here and tell the agents what's going on. I'll make a diversion. That should buy you time some time to organize a counter-attack."

He took one of the bulletproof vests hanging on the wall and put it on.

"Are…are you sure, Commander?" she asked.

"Don't make me say it again, lieutenant," said Morrison, grabbing an assault rifle. "We can't risk losing you." Jack turned to look at her in the eye. "I won't let anyone else take another bullet for me."

Morrison grabbed a few more biotic field generators before heading for the exit.

"Round up as many people as possible," he said, "and then come to the western hall in ten minutes."

"Whatever you say, Commander."

Morrison got to another door than the one where Reyes and his followers were supposed to be. He disengaged the lock, pressed against the wall and opened it carefully. No one was there.

"Gabriel!" he yelled. "Show yourself!"

Morrison crept forward a few steps, then backed up against a column. He heard footsteps. He stepped out from behind the column and saw two BlackWatch agents walking towards him. Morrison shot one of them right in the stomach. The other one jumped for cover.

"Come and get me!" he screamed.

He started running towards the western hall, and was there in less than a minute with his boosted speed. The agents following him lagged behind.

The western hall was a large space, a hub of the different sections of Overwatch. The floor and walls were only white and black like the rest of the building. But its unique feature was a glass ceiling that let in a luminous natural light. The room was set up with columns, benches, water dispensers and coffee machines.

Morrison heard a clang. He threw himself to the ground just before dozens of bullet holes pierced the wall behind him from the Reyes's weapon.

"We were examples, Gabriel!" he yelled as went for cover. "Models for future generations! And you're just ruining it all by crushing the principles we swore we'd respect!

"Are you kidding me, Jack?! Did you really think we could protect the world without getting our hands dirty? That when you asked me to "solve a problem", I'd follow the ethical pact to a T?"

From the corner of his eye, Jack saw one of the BlackWatch agents moving in on him. He fired shots of bullets in that direction, pushing the agent back. Morrison shifted his position as he realized that he could be riddled with bullets any second.

"I did your dirty work for twenty years," Reyes went on. "And to thank me, you gave away my division to this fucking inquiry commission! If I were still the head of Overwatch, it would've never happened!"

Morrison suddenly tried to shoot down the same agent who was coming in from the side. As soon as he came out from cover, a BlackWatch agent shot at him, but thanks to his enhanced agility, he managed to dodge the shot and slipped back under cover

"But I was forced to resign to give you my place. You were more photogenic, you sucked up to the politicians and journalists. Because you see, Jack…"

His voice was much closer now. Morrison turned and there was Gabriel, standing right next to him. His old friend had a predicted the play by play of his moves to corner him.

"... I've always been better than you."

He shot Morrison head on. The bullets from his strong shotgun went straight through Morrison's jacket, and he felt a pain twisting him.

But it would take more than that to kill him. He stretched out his arms and fired a shot right into Gabriel's stomach. He sprang up and raced in the other direction. Gunfire blasted and a bullet grazed his shoulder.

To make it worse, a new squad of BlackWatch agents had just arrived from another side and opened fire when they saw him. A bullet struck him in the leg and another in his torso.

Morrison shouted in agony. He leaned up against a column. Right in front of him was a bench, that hid him Blackwatch second squad.

"It's over, Jack," said Gabriel.

He heard sounds of footsteps, slow-paced and steady. Reyes's squad walked closer to finish him off.

With all the strength he had left in his body, Morrison activated one of his biotic field generators. He felt relieved within half a second. He waited two more seconds to let the nanites kick in.

Then he slipped out of cover and pulled out his gun. The first shot got a BlackWatch agent in the head, and he fell to the ground. At superhuman speed, Morrison pointed his weapon and shot one of Reyes' agents in the stomach before he even had time to run.

"I'm not yet dead, Gabriel!" Morrison yelled.

Just a dozen of Overwatch agents ran in, firing at Blackwatch, forcing Reyes and his group to withdraw.

"Cover the commander!" Anong shouted to the other agents.

An intense shootout ensued. The reinforcement squad and Morrison's exploit give advantage to the Overwatch members. But Reyes couldn't give in. He and his agents cornered them on both sides to throw off Morrison's troops. But Overwatch used their strength in numbers to take on their opponents from the side. Morrison was fighting like he was on a rampage; intensity that lived up to his reputation. He wanted to destroy the man who'd betrayed him and lied to him for so many years. He wanted to kill Gabriel Reyes.

The BlackWatch commander was totally absorbed in the fight and concentrating on how to sort out the strategic issued. Morrison knew from experience that Reyes was calculating all the possible schemes in his mind.

Morrison gunned down a BlackWatch agent after taking him out from the side. The path to Gabriel was clear. But another one of Reyes' troops starting shooting at him and Morrison had to take cover again. He caught Anong's eye and told her where the BlackWatch agent was. The lieutenant nodded.

She bolted up and fired at the shooter who was blocking Morrison, forcing him to jump under cover. Jack got up and ran towards Gabriel. The Overwatch commander caught a glimmer of surprise in his enemy's eyes just before his shot hit Reyes in the torso.

This time, Gabriel was forced to flee. Morrison could hear the BlackWatch commander talking in his headset nearby:

"Squad 5, engage the enemy!"

The sound of shattering glass above Jack's head made look up at the ceiling. Through the hall's glass ceiling, now smashed open, he saw an air transport device, and repelling from it on ropes were more troops of BlackWatch agents. They started rapid firing at the Overwatch agents with machine guns, taking advantage of their aerial position.

If Reyes had waited a little longer, his troops could have crushed all the Overwatch forces in the hall. But he had to play this cards right after Morrison charged at him, even though his enemies weren't in the ideal position for the attack. It wasn't the most effective blow, but it was enough to let Gabriel strike a counter-attack. He shot at Morrison, enough to hold him back. He repositioned himself and took advantage of the spot to shoot an Overwatch agent in the torso.

All the possible options were racing through Morrison's head. He hadn't lost the fight yet. His agents quickly got over the shock of the attack, and formed a new line of defense. A reckless BlackWatch member had just been injured by Anong. They might be able to launch a new attack, to gain control and from there…

Then Morrison suddenly felt himself being thrown into the air, and a sensation of intense heat came over his whole body. It took him a second to realize what happened, that an explosion had sent him flying.

For a short second, he could see the sky, pure, perfect blue. It was really a beautiful day.

He came slamming back to the ground, sending stabbing pain to his back, and quickly spread to his whole body. He was completely surrounded by fire and smoke, veiling the clear sky that he'd just caught a glimpse of.

Morrison touched his belt where he packed his equipment and ammunition. It was hard to stay steady; his hands were trembling. If it weren't for the unbearable pain, he would have noticed how slowly he was moving.

Finally, he managed to grab one of his biotic generators, but it was too damaged to use. He took out a few of them until finally finding one that worked. Somehow, he found it strangely easy to activate. Did his body muster up all of its strength, knowing that this act could save him?

The energy from the healing generators started to spread, and Jack knew he would survive.

_A few weeks later_

Morrison walked through a cemetery.

White tombs were lined up as far as the eye could see. Each of them had an engraving of the Overwatch the badge.

Jack was walking through the most recent graves. He passed slowly in front of each of them, taking time to look at them attentively.

He shed one tear when he saw Chucho's name. He nodded respectfully in front of Anong's grave. But he kept a stiff upper lip when he saw the name Gabriel Reyes.

And he didn't react anymore either when he saw a grave bearing the name Jack Morrison.

Morrison was declared dead soon after the battle, even though there was no body found. No doubt that was convenient for them. But it didn't matter. It was convenient for him too.

Without looking back, the Overwatch commander turned his back to the cemetery and walked away. His old life was over.


	3. Chapter 2

_Six years later_

Hai quickly glanced over her shoulder, to make sure no one was watching her, then turned back at the computer in front of her. She was copying data onto a storage key, lots of data.

Hai was a small woman with an average physique. She had dark, delicately shaped eyes. Her long hair is what people noticed first when they saw her, it was dyed a spring green, a reassuring color, somehow a source of hope. It was sometimes convenient that her hair was distracting to people, as she could never hide her emotions. And at this moment, she looked worried. Very worried.

She was wearing a work uniform: beautiful yellow clothes with a logo on it, a glyph with a sleek design in red.

The data transfer was done. Hai took the key out with a sigh of relief. She put it in one of her pockets and then left the room.

She passed a few deserted hallways before coming to a large well-lit hall, filled with lots of green plants. Written on one of the walls in large Chinese characters was 'Enki-Corporation.'

There were lots of people in the hall, wearing the same uniform as Hai. They politely salute her. Hai response rapidly , trying to hide her nervousness.

"You're still there, Hai?" asked a woman, surprised. "Shouldn't you have been done over an hour ago?"

"I had some things to wrap up," she answered, uneasy.

"Don't push yourself too much," said the woman, smiling.

Hai left the building. It was a large, modern building, made of glass and steel, the kind of expensive structure of imposing power.

Hai rode a bike back to her place. She lived in a medium-sized apartment with all the modern comforts. She changed out of her uniform into everyday clothes. Then she opened her laptop, made sure that she wasn't online, and started making copies of the data she'd collected.

After making two more copies, Hai opened another computer, this one connected to the internet. She signed in to a few data-sharing sites.

"The crimes of the Enki Corporation" she is starting typing. "1: Enki has links with mafia groups. Here's the proof. »

Hai plugged in one of the data keys into the computer, clicked on a few files and uploaded the evidence; e-mails, statements, videos, photos.

"2: Enki is destroying ecosystems with complete disregard for international regulations. Here's the evidence." She uploaded more data.

"3: Enki stole ideas to design some of its leading products, some of which were sold to government enterprises. Here's the evidence. "

This time the data was mostly technical drawings of state-of-the-art equipment and high-tech tools.

"4: Enki has been involved in several disturbing conspiracies, including one relating to the fall of Overwatch. Here's the proof."

She uploaded the last vital data; "top secret" files outlining past events.

When she was finished, Hai exhaled, relieved. She got up and poured herself a glass of strong alcohol.

'At the height of my career!' she said out loud ironically, raising her drink.

She swigged it down, and went back to her computer to read the first reactions. Suddenly, after a few minutes, all the lights in the apartment went out. The electricity was cut off.

A cell phone rang. She jumped to pick it up, almost too quickly.

"You've disappointed me, Mademoiselle Yin," said a voice on the line.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," she replied mechanically.

"You know damn well! You've hacked the company's servers and tried to leak the data! And I had such high hopes for you."

"What do you mean, 'tried'?"

"Did you actually think we weren't prepared for this? That we wouldn't have precautions against this data leaking out? We've already erased all of your posts."

Hai was speechless.

"Now, listen carefully. You can still come out of this clean if we make a deal. I'm sure you made copies. Hand them over to the company and we'll be happy to let you go, without compensation."

"No..." she whispered, then raising her voice, "No! People deserve to know!

"You idiot! Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into? This leak will make you a prime target for the worst people on the planet! We're the best choice, Miss Yin."

Hai hung up. She grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with her things, then ran out of her apartment.

In another apartment, somewhere else in the city, the director of Enki Corporation grabbed his phone furiously.

"Get Helix Security!" he ordered one of his assistants. "We're going to need the best. They're the only ones who'll be able to handle the guys who'll track her down."

_**_

_*_

Amelie walked briskly down the hallway. She was ready to fight, her weapon pointed in front of her. It was a compact, massive assault rifle, with a gray 'W' and blue background engraved on it.

She eyed the room where she'd carry out her mission, then pressed her back up against the wall before trying to open the door. It was locked. Amelie couldn't take the risk of forcing it open and getting caught. She reached into her bag and pulled out a master key—an expensive high-tech gadget that she used on the lock. The door opened.

She took a step in and someone jumped out at her. Amelie looked him up and down with her cold, emotionless gaze. He didn't seem like a physical threat, but he could put the mission at risk if he alerted the target.

"Not a sound or I'll kill you," she said callously, pointing her gun at him.

She had a strong French accent, which could have been charming if she wasn't so cold.

The person froze. Amelie motioned for him to kneel. He lowered himself to the floor. Then she gagged him and tied him to a chair, facing a window.

Five minutes passed. Then the target came in sight, accompanied by two bodyguards.

Amelie smiled maliciously as she opened the window. She pointed the barrel of her gun outside before triggering a device, and the weapon morphed. Its profile became long and streamlined just like the barrel. It wasn't an assault weapon anymore, it was a precision rifle.

As the target her line of fire, Amelie face became more and more excited, as a sense of pleasure came over her in the anticipation.

Then she pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged right into the target's head. Amelie smiled.

"That's what happens to Talon's enemies," she whispered.

She slightly shifted her aim and shot again. One of the bodyguards, still motionless with shock, collapsed.

"Perfect," Amelie said joyfully, this time out loud.

The second bodyguard took off. In only a split second Amelie adjusted her gun and shot him. Another lifeless body thudded to the ground.

Amelie closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, savoring the moment. It was a rare, precious feeling to kill; it's the only time she really felt alive.

She turned to look at the room. It was a cozy, chic hotel room. She walked towards a mirror in a corner of the room.

The reflection showed her striking turquoise colored skin. Her long, thick hair was dark blue, and tied in ponytail that reached her lower back. She wore a tight, purple bodysuit. The three colors brought out her eyes, an intense yellow color, and her delicate silver earrings. She had an intimidating kind of beauty.

Her weapon wasn't the only thing she carried. Her left forearm was equipped with a heavy mechanized bracelet, and she had a frontal black helmet, with seven red globes jutting out menacingly.

Amelie put down her gun and took a few seconds to fix the stray strands of her ponytail. If she knew what was best for her, she'd get out of there as soon as possible before security came. But to hell with that, she thought. She wanted to take it all in.

She turned to the person she'd tied up a few minutes earlier. He was a middle-aged man, a bit pudgy and dressed in a stylish outfit—a rich banker or something in the same vein. Amelie smiled delightfully at the thought that he was so terrified.

"What? Afraid I'll kill you?" she asked sweetly as she sauntered towards him.

He didn't answer and sat there frozen, horrified. She raised the gun up towards her head.

"It would be so easy," she said nonchalantly. "Just a little pressure on the trigger…"

Even though he knew it would most likely be the last seconds of his life, the man didn't close his eyes. He stared at Amélie, with a mix of pure terror and fascination. She vainly took it to mean that he was admiring her beauty.

"But from so close up, there'd be no point," she said, putting her gun down. "At least not for someone as insignificant as you," she adds, scornfully.

The banker's let out an audible sigh of relief through his gag. Amelie crouched down in front of him and brought her right hand closer to the man's face. A black glove covered her whole hand except for her index finger, her shooting finger.

"Now you can say that you ran into Widowmaker, and survived," said Amelie, in a sensual tone, making a small scratch on his cheek.

She got up and walked quietly to the window. She flicked her left wrist forward and a grappling hook shot out of the bracelet she was wearing, and repelled her out the window.

She landed smoothly on the terrace she was aiming for and then ran, jumping from roof to roof. Her leg armor, plus her physical alterations and training, made it easier to jump from a distance, and without missing a landing.

When she got to her ride, she was surprised to see a second Talon aircraft on site. Many of the organization's solders were there too, easily recognizable with their heavy armor and helmets with red sensors.

In front of them was a tall, imposing sinister man. He was dressed in typical black armor, and a large black cloak that he wore with his hood down.

The rest of his equipment was equally threatening: he had battle blades on his forearms and carried two massive shotguns, a weapon that any ordinary man had to handle with both hands, with a stock of ammunition.

What stood out was his white ivory mask. It was vaguely that shape of a human face but without details, just holes for a mouth and nose. The white bask against all of his black equipment was striking. But how could he see through it?

There was another slight touch of color: a silver badge attached to the belt. It was the symbol of the now dissolved organization: BlackWatch.

"You're here?" asked Amelie curiously, addressing him as an acquaintance. "Big things are about to happen, aren't they?"

"Your superiors to explain everything to you," he answered, signaling with his head towards the transport behind him.

His voice was serious, dark and threatening; almost inhuman, yet calm as he spoke to her.

Amélie entered the aircraft, similar to a helicopter but technologically advanced so that it could fly without propellers.

She stepped inside, typed in her information into an intercom and waited. A voice soon came on.

"Your report, Agent Widowmaker."

The voice was encrypted, masked by crackling sounds that made it impossible to identify. Talon officials clearly wanted to keep their identity secret.

"The target is eliminated," said Amelie, with satisfaction.

"Good. You have another mission now. An employee of Enki Corporation has stolen a lot of files from the company, including a technical scheme that we want to recover. She tried to post everything on the internet but her attempt was thwarted. You and Reaper have to retrieve this data. He'll head the operation.

"You're sending us to pursue a multinational employee?" she asked in a sly tone.

Reaper was one of the most violent private soldiers. He only accepted missions where there would be guaranteed bloodshed. And anyway, Amelie would be bored if there weren't any murders involved.

"According to our initial reports, Enki called on Hélix Security to retrieve its data. And we're convinced that some former Overwatch agents will show up to do the same. Your skills will be very useful."

"My pleasure."

"Eliminate, if possible, any individual who may be a threat to our future operations. But obtaining the data remains the priority. Transmission over."

The intercom stopped.

Amelie stepped out of the aircraft to head towards Reaper. She had an evil smile on her face; soon she'd have the chance to kill again.


	4. Chapter 3, Part 1

Captain Ana Amari was a respected member of the Egyptian army, and a famous fighter against the Omnics. She was sent to join Gabriel Reyes’s squad, bringing together the founding members of what would become Overwatch. Like the others, helped bring an end to the Crisis of the Omniums.

 When Overwatch persevered, Ana Amari was the number two. Her warmth, professionalism and concern for the well-being of her comrades made her one of the most valued people in the organization.

Unfortunately, after nineteen years of service, she was declared missing in an operation against Overwatch by the terrorist organization, Talon. Most experts agreed that she was shot dead by the "Widowmaker".

 A few time before, Talon also killed Gérard Lacroix, one of the best intelligence chiefs of Overwatch. Many saw in him as the future replacement of the aging Morrison, whose politics had become more and more criticized.

These two huge setbacks against the terrorist organization weighed heavily in the UN's decision to launch an investigation into Overwatch and dissolve the organization.

 

_"Universal Encyclopedia of the Internet"_

****

_Twelve years ago_

 

Morrison walked across a torn apart street. The buildings around him bore the aftermath of an earthquake; dilapidated structures, run-down and deserted streets.

 

The commander of Overwatch was out of place in  his blue uniform and perfectly combed blond hair. There were a few signs of old age; a handful of gray locks and a few subtle wrinkles. Still, he was handsome and confident.

 

He walked towards a squad of Overwatch agents who encircled a ruined building. They all had their eyes peeled to it. Morrison walked towards the two women who seemed to be in charge, one carrying a lieutenant's badge and the other a captain.

 

“What have we got, Ana?” he asked the captain.

 

"There’s a group of raiders inside," she said with a serious tone. They took hostages in with them when we got here.”

 

"Just give the order, Commander, and my team will take care of these idiots," the other woman said.

 

The two officers were about the same age as Morrison, all wearing the blue Overwatch uniform and armor.

 

Ana had brown skin and long black hair that freely fell on her shoulders. She spoke English with a slight Arabic accent, and had a striking tattoo under her left eye, representing the eye of Ra. She wore a blue beret with a small golden eagle fastened to it, the same as on the Egyptian flag.

She carried a revolver, similar to a precision rifle, a powerful, reliable weapon. It was marked with red bars, probably to count her victims.

 

The lieutenant had short red hair and a pale complexion. She had a strong Polish accent when she spoke English. She was carrying the same weapons as Morrison: an assault rifle and a handgun.

 

"Given the conditions, there’s no guarantee that all the hostages will survive in combat," Jack replied.

 

"But we’d definitely take down the raiders," replied the lieutenant.

 

“The first goal of Overwatch is to protect innocent people, not to kill criminals.”

 

“What are you going to do then, Jack?” Ana asked softly.

 

He put his gun down on the ground.

 

“Negotiate.”

 

He started to undo his holster.

 

“I count on you to cover me, Ana,” he said.

 

She smiled.

“Always, Jack,” she answered.

 

With the handgun on the ground, Morrison waited for the captain to stand up, so that she could cover him has he walked. Then he walked towards the building with his hands in the air.

 

“Who are you?” shouted an imposing, masculine voice.

 

“Commander Jack Morrison. I’m here to negotiate.”

 

"Overwatch's commander is here," said another man, terrified.

 

“Shut up!” cried the first to the second. “Come closer!” he yelled to Jack. “And no foul play or you’re dead!”

 

Morrison could soon see two men’s faces, and then the rest of the crew. They were young, as young as twenty and no older than thirty. Their clothes were filthy and ripped up.

 

They had old, shoddy weapons. Nothing but stupid boys, driven to crime after the misery caused by the earthquake. The problem was these stupid boys now had their weapons pointed at helpless, terrified civilians. They looked at Jack with the tremendous hope that he might be able to save them.

"Wow” said the first man, no doubt the leader. “It really is him.”

 

The one next to him lowered his head in shame, to avoid making eye contact with Morrison.

 

“What have you got for us?” asked the leader.

 

“Leave the hostages here and my agents will let you go.”

 

“Oh yeah? And how do I know that once we get out of here, you won’t just kill us?

 

"You have my word," Jack said assuredly.

 

"Ha! A man’s word is worth nothing here.”

 

"But ... it's Commander Morrison," the other one said. “You really think he’d trick us? Him?”

 

The leader hesitated for a few moments. His gaze passed from Jack to the gang, to the Overwatch agents. Even from a distance, he could make out the peacekeepers modern armor and weapons.

 

"Okay," he finally said. He turned to the rest of his group. “We're out of here, guys!”

 

"Overwatch offers money or a reconversion for citizens who agree to surrender their weapons," added Morrison. “You would also get absolution for minor offenses. You just have to go to the humanitarian camp.”

 

The second raider optimistically raised his head towards the commanding officer, but the leader was more wary.

 

"We'll think about it," he said.

 

Morrison nodded and went back to his agents.

 

“So?” the lieutenant asked.

 

“They’ll be out of there soon, hopefully they’ll leave the hostages. If they do, let them go.”

 

"Commander, if we don’t take care of these guys now, they'll come back and interfere with our operations later.”

 

"I'm not so sure about that. And even if they do, it’s worth it in the end.”

 

The woman said nothing. She didn’t agree, but she followed the orders.

 

A few minutes later, the raiders left the building leaving the hostages behind. Most of them walked cautiously towards another neighborhood in the city, as the agents let them pass, fixing their eyes on them as they left. A small group stayed behind.

 

"Can we surrender now, commander?" asked the other raider that Morrison had spoken to.

 

“Of course.”

 

"Well... then we surrender, Commander," he said, putting his gun on the ground. The others quickly followed suit.

 

"You and your friends made the right choice, son."

 

"It was an honor to meet you, Commander."

 

The lieutenant's squad accompanied the hostages and the raiders who had gone to the humanitarian camp. Ana came to speak to Morrison.

 

"I'm really glad you made that decision, Jack," she said. “It’s not worth it to punish the criminals, saving lives is so much more important.”

 

“Thanks, Ana. That means a lot to me.”

 

"And I'm thrilled to see you're doing your best to support the reintegration program," she added jokingly.

 

 "You’re so open-minded, Jack,” she said sarcastically.

 

The stern Commander allowed himself a slight smile.

 

"Come on," he said. “There’s still plenty to do in this city.”

_Present day_

 

“Jack! Hey, Jack, wake up!”

 

Ana's voice shook Morrison out of his sleep. He sat up, grunting.

 

They were in a small oriental-style lounge with a few chairs, a sofa, where Morrison was sleeping, and a TV showing adverts.

 

“Where’s our target? He asked his partner.

 

“Still not in sight. He’ll be there in fifteen minutes according to our contact. I thought it was a good time to wake you up.”

 

"I shouldn’t have slept for so long."

 

"Well you shouldn’t have spent the whole night chasing criminals," said Ana.

 

The former Captain Amari turned to him. She’d changed since her heyday; her hair had gone completely white, with many wrinkles on her face, and her right eye was now covered with an eye patch.

 

The Overwatch uniform was now replace by clothes thick, grey and a little torn. Ana looked more like a criminal in hiding than radiant officer she had been. Yet, she was still her cheerful self. She looked at Jack, smiling.

 

"In the meantime, I made some tea. Want some?”

 

“Sure, why not?”

 

Ana grabbed a teapot, poured a cup and handed it to the old commander. The drink was nice, but a little too lukewarm for his liking.

 

The TV news had come back on. The title read: "Winston and Tracer: Heroes or Criminals?". The presenter spoke:

 

“Everyone is still wondering what happened to the two former agents of Overwatch: Winston, and Lena Oxton, known as "Tracer". A few weeks ago, the whole world watched on as they prevented a burglary, carried out by Talon agents, who were trying to recover a very dangerous weapon. But breaking news reveals that the real aim of these two individuals was to recreate Overwatch, regardless of the "Petras Act," which prohibits any activity related to the organization. Are they simply repeating their old mistakes? Our team is trying to find out.”

 

Amari watched the speech pensively.

 

“Jack, why are we doing this?”

 

“What?”

“Hunting down arms traffickers for a little cash, when they’ll just be replaced in two weeks after they’re captured?

 

"And what would you rather be doing?"

 

“We could find Tracer and Winston to help them rebuild Overwatch as it was before. It would be easier if we were teamed up.”

 

"Why? You heard the reporter. The world doesn’t want us anymore. Better they think us dead.”

“Fine. But why we attack a so little target?”

 

“A receiver might want to sell the information about the conspiracy to take down Overwatch. We need the bonus on this weapons dealer to pay the asking price.”

 

Ana frowned:

 

"You honestly think it was a conspiracy? From what you say, it sounds like Gabriel tried to overthrow you and he missed his chance.”

 

“I know that Reyes wouldn’t have caused an explosion if he knew it would affect him and his agents. My gut instinct tells me that a third party was involved, and they were the ones who revealed BlackWatch. I need to find out who it is.”

 

"Are you at least sure that whoever it is knows the information?"

 

“It’s worth a shot. And if they lie, well, there’ll be one less receiver in this country.”

 

“The target should show up any minute. We should go.”

Morrison nodded and they geared up. Their equipment had changed a lot since they served in Overwatch.

 

Ana had traded her huge precision rifle against a thinner, lighter weapon that shot syringes instead of bullets. Her handgun did the same. Attached to her shirt were small vials filled with a golden mixture, similar to the energy that emanated from the biotic generators.

 

Morrison still carried the biotic generators, but his assault rifle had changed. Instead of opting for a smaller weapon like Ana had, the former commander's weapon was even more massive, sporting a second cannon.  
  
Instead of his old blue armor and uniform, he wore everyday clothes; a white and blue jacket, with a big ‘76’ embroidered on the back in red.

 

The two veterans armed themselves and covered their faces. Ana put on a thick, black mask that completely covered her head, with a single blue triangle in the middle. She tucked her hair under her hood.

 

Morrison had a smaller mask that didn’t cover his forehead. The mask was a metallic gray except for the horizontal red line that covered his eyes.

 

The head gear was state-of-the-art, with high-tech advantages, on top of allowing them to see even though heavily covered.

 


	5. Chapter 3, Part 2

Ana and Jack left their room. They were in a small town in Egypt, the kind of isolated village that the government no longer had the means to cover effectively, as they were overwhelmed with world crises. Protection like the army and police were things of the past, which made it an ideal place for an arms traffickers, and bounty hunters who were tracking them.

 

Amari and Morrison slipped through the deserted, narrow streets. They reached the outskirts of a large central square, with a bustling outdoor market, crowded with people.

 

"There’s our target," Morrison said.

 

He pointed to a fat man, dressed in comfortable clothes, having a lively chat with a guy with a similar look. The two of them were surrounded by about twenty hoodlum body guards, casually watching them, some leaning against a stone wall just behind.

 

"I’m not sure about this, Jack," Ana said, worried. “There are too many people. We run the risk of killing a civilian by accident”

 

‘Make every possible effort not to engage in combat near civilians’—chapter 4, paragraph 12, line 3 of the Overwatch guidelines. He remembered it word for word. He was the one, after all, who wrote it.

 

"We're good enough to avoid it," he said anyway, sliding his hand on the shoulder strap to take his rifle.

 

These rules had been put in place to keep new recruits in line. In the past, Morrison respected them to set an example. Today, he didn’t have to.

 

"What about these gangsters?" Ana asked.

 

"We’ll neutralize them before they can open fire," Morrison said, ready to shoot.

 

What else could they do? Nothing. They were on a mission. They had to fight now, it was the only way to see it through.

 

“You’ve got a good shooting position?” he added.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Perfect. I'll go around them. Keep your communicator on.” He set off.

 

Ana huffed through her mask. She climbed a ladder on a nearby building and positioned herself on the roof.

 

Jack, in the meantime, walked around the central square until he was behind the wall where some of the body guards of the arms trafficker were leaning.

 

"Soldier 76 in position," he said into the mask headset.

 

"Phantom in position," Ana's said back.

 

Jack pointed his gun at the wall, disabled the safety lock and activated a secondary trigger. Three miniature rockets were projected from the second barrel of his weapon that exploded the wall, and sent the guards flying in the air. Jack took advantage of the opening to attack the trafficker from behind.

 

He sprinted towards him at enhanced speed as he hurtled rapid-fire shots, taking down targets one by one. When he got closer, he pounded a guard with the butt of his weapon and punched another one in the head.

 

Ana starting shooting at the same time, picking off guards with the darts of her precision rifle. They fell to the ground instantly as soon as Ana hit them, never missing a shot.

 

Shocked by the attack and scared of Morrison’s wrath, the gunmen were couldn’t pull together a counterattack. Some panicked and fled, while a few others tried shoot back. But the lowlifes had now training whatsoever, and their awkward attempts failed to harm Ana or Morrison, whose surprise attack completely threw them off.

 

Tons of stray bullets darted around the square. The crowd was screaming and running for their lives, taking shelter wherever they could.  Some unlucky ones were hit by the gangsters’ random shots, causing a handful of dead and wounded civilians.

 

The arms dealer, however, hadn’t lost his cool. As soon as the rockets exploded, he’d started to run with his most faithful, skilled guards, and didn’t look back.

 

“Who’s attacking us?" he screamed to one of his guards.

 

"It’s this vigilante who is calls Soldier 76," she said, still running. “Aaahhh!” She shouted as Ana's dart lodged into her neck.

 

"Soldier 76, they went down an alley on your left," said Amari.

 

"Well done, Phantom," Morrison answered.

 

He punched a guard to the ground, grabbed his weapon and knocked another one out with a blow to the head. He started to run after the trafficker. His powerful speed allowed him to quickly gain ground.

 

He passed the bodies of the last guards that Ana gunned down before passing a large apartment building. There, he glimpsed his target hiding behind a corner of the wall. Morrison aimed his gun in that direction, ready to kill him as soon as he came out of his cover.

 

“You know…how many people…live…in this building?” asked the trafficker, trying to catch his breath

 

"I don’t care” replied Morrison.

 

"More than four hundred," he said. “And you'll no doubt get nervous about it. I've already heard about you, Soldier 76…about the way you are.”

 

Morrison heard beep; it didn’t sound like a good sign. He turned his head towards the building.

 

The trafficker had put an explosive pack on the building and just activated the detonator. Within ten seconds, four hundred people would die.

 

Morrison hesitated, losing one of these precious seconds to think about what to do.

 

“The primary goal of Overwatch is to protect innocent lives”, his old voice reminded him from the back of his mind.

 

He rushed to the building. It took him five seconds to get there, and one more to grab the bomb and throw it towards an abandoned building. It exploded three seconds later, without harming anyone.

 

But Jack didn’t even see it. He was too busy rushing to where his target had been.

 

Of course, the trafficker had time to escape, and had disappeared.

 

Morrison felt a searing pain come over him. It was the same pain from six years ago, when he looked at the list of victims from the explosion, knowing that the perpetrators got away with it. He felt completely powerless.

 

"Phantom, I lost the target!" he shouted in his radio.

 

No answer. His pain intensified.

 

“Phantom!?”

 

"What would you do without me?" Ana said mockingly.

 

His was immediately relieved at the sound of her voice.

 

A few minutes later, he found his partner in a deserted alley with the trafficker, unconscious and tied up.

 

“Good thing I’d anticipated his escape route and shot a sleeping dart at him. But you did well reacted so fast and getting rid of the bomb in time.”

 

As soon as Morrison saw the trafficker, the burning pain suddenly took over again. But he was not powerless this time. He unleashed his rage.

 

Soldier 76 grabbed the trafficker by the collar and shoved him against the wall, punching him as hard as he could, right in the nose. The pain shocked him into consciousness.

 

“You…are…a…bastard!” Morrison yelled, punching him with each word.

 

The punches were brutal, but he made sure they weren’t hard enough knock him unconscious again. The trafficker's face turned bright red, then blue, as he cried pitifully in pain. Jack dropped him to the ground and the trafficker tried to crawl away, shaking. He turned and begged for merci as he saw Morrison ready to hit again.

 

Ana put her hand on Morrison's shoulder. It was a simple, reassuring gesture, enough to calm him down and feel supported. He paused, keeping his fist steady in the air a few seconds. Then he lowered it.

 

Morrison stopped, lowering his arm. His anger suddenly disappeared, leaving only....no, he didn’t want to endure that. It would make him weak, and he had a duty to fulfill. He had to concentrate.

 

Amari took a syringe out of her reserve and shot the trafficker with it. He instantly fell asleep.

 

"Let's hand in this scumbag," Morrison said soberly.

 

“Jack ... just one thing. In the shooting…despite all our efforts…some civilians were wounded. And others killed.”

 

Jack lowered his head. He couldn’t prevent some of those criminals from shooting. It was one more burden to bear.

 

"These gangsters have no morals,” he said. “I’d exterminate them all if I could.”

 

Soldier 76 lifted the trafficker's body and set out without looking at Ana.

 

If Ana’s face wasn’t hidden behind the mask, Jack would have seen the deep sadness in her eyes.

 

_**_

_*_

 

The receiver finished examining the notes and put them in one of the drawers.

 

"It’s all there," she said with a wide grin.

 

She was a middle aged woman, with an average, curvy physique. Her heavy make-up she and chic, designer clothes gave her a superficial, attention-seeking sort of beauty.

 

"Of course it’s all there," Morrison answered aggressively. “You think we’d steal some?”

 

The two private soldiers who guarded the room slipped their hands over their guns in precaution. But they stopped at the reaction of their employer:

 

"Of course not," she said in a smarmy voice. “You seem to be the epitome of honesty.”

 

“Where’s the information?” Morrison asked with the same unctuous tone.

 

“It’s here. I’ll show you right away.”

 

It had been a few days since the shooting, and capture of the weapons trafficker. They had handed him over to the security forces through a contact of the two veterans, who were also sought-after at this point. Ana and Jack had then managed to arrange to meet with the receiver.

 

She’d turned a computer screen to her two guests and cautiously opened a safe, pulling out a data key.

 

"I have to say, I expected this information to be bought by secret service agents or the employees of a large firm. If I may ask, why would a traveling law-abider and a bounty hunter take up an interest the subject?”

 

Morrison stared at her in silence. The red line on his mask was directly in line with the woman's eyes.

 

"Of course, if you don’t want to tell me, you have the right," said the receiver.

 

She put the data key in the computer.

 

“A few days ago, she explained, “an employee of Enki Corporation tried to leak a lot of data that proved the company’s criminal activities. Unfortunately, the data was protected by an internal security measure that made it disappear within a few microseconds of being on the internet. But online…nothing totally disappears. Some fragments survived. They were recovered by someone who sold them to me. Look at what she wrote.”

 

On the screen, they read: "4: Enki has been involved in several troubled conspiracies, including one relating to Overwatch's fall. Here's the proof:

 

“There were only several fragments of files, most of which were corrupted. But we could still read some of it. There are names of politicians, businessmen, directors of huge corporations, and some key members of Overwatch," said the receiver, enthralled. “They could potentially all be involved in this conspiracy.”

 

"And all the data could be used as real evidence," Morrison said, imagining how this could unfold.

 

"Probably," the receiver said. “Anyway, there you go.”

 

She ejected the data key and handed it to Jack.

 

“What happened to the Enki employee?” he asked.

 

“I could tell you, if you pay me.”

 

Jack bargained with her. Fortunately, their last bonus had left given them a tidy sum to be able to make a deal.

 

“She’s still somewhere in her hometown, on the run and probably still wanted by private soldiers that Enki hired. I’ll give you the exact coordinates in a few seconds.”

 

She slipped into another room. When she was out of earshot, Ana quickly whispered to Jack.

 

"I guess your next move is to find that woman?"

 

“Of course. I’ve been waiting for this kind of opportunity for six years. It’s time to make pay those who destroyed Overwatch.”

 


	6. Chapter 4

Hai looked nervously over her shoulder.

She was in a waiting room at the police station. The only other person there was a policewoman on duty at the door. But her presence wasn’t enough to reassure her.

Another policeman entered the room and walked over to the former Enki employee.

"The chief of police will see you now, miss."

Hai nodded and stood up to follow him. They arrived in a plain room, with just a table, four chairs and a two-way mirror.

The chief of police was already there, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. He was an elderly man, slightly plump, with a gentle but worn out face. In any other circumstance, Hai might have thought he was a friendly man. But in this case, she was wondering if he’d be able to handle this type of situation. In the end, she didn’t really have the choice.

"Good evening, miss," the commissary began politely. “Go ahead, take a seat.”

"Good evening, sir," said Hai, sitting down.

“Do you want a coffee?”

“Um, yes please. Thank you.”

The chief signaled to another officer who quietly walked out of the room.

“So, you want to report a crime?”

“Not exactly. I’d like to give you information that proves many crimes committed by the Enki Corporation. As long as you can ensure my protection.”

"That’s your former employer, isn’t it? You know they’ve sued you for breaking the privacy policy?”

“I’m not surprised. But I can guarantee you that they are the criminals here, not me.”

 The other officer came back into the room with Hai’s coffee. She thanked him and immediately took a sip as the Commissioner asked another question.

"This issue has been going on for several days. Why didn’t you come see us earlier?”

“I tried to post the proof online. I thought that once it was public, Enki wouldn’t be able to attack me…that I’d be safe.”

“But?”

“But the data was secured. As soon as it went public, it was erased. I spent the last few days trying to disable the protection but I couldn’t...I’m not savvy enough.”

"Is that why you came to see us?"

 “I came here because I'm being tracked down. Suspicious peoples have showed up where I’m staying. I’ve managed to hide and stay on the move. But the problem is that Enki knows my exact location in real time.”

As she spoke, she nervously looked behind her at the front door.

“What?”

 “As soon as we reach a certain rank in the company, they put a nano-tracker in our body that can locate us 24/7. A ‘security measure,’ they say. It’s microscopic…only the best surgeons in the world can take it out.”

"Well," said the chief, standing up. “That’s enough. This case is over my head. I have to call one of my superiors to forward your request. That's the best I can do, miss.”

Hai nodded and went back to the waiting room.

A few hours went by. Hai couldn’t think about skimming through one the magazines on the table, or getting out her phone to pass the time. The only reason she could stay awake was because of the endless cups of coffee that the security was giving her.

Finally, she saw a few green military trucks drive into the police station’s courtyard. A few dozen soldiers got out. Hai was nervous, but calmed down a little when she saw that they were wearing the Chinese army uniform.

The chief walked out into the courtyard, completely in awe. He went up to the senior officer and started an argument that lasted less than a minute.

The two of them walked into the police station.

"We have to leave the building," the chief said to the staff, still taken aback.

Some of them piped up and asked for an explanation, but realizing that it was useless, they finally complied.

Hai, however, was curious. The officer in charge, a captain, had approached her.

"Miss Yin?" he asked politely.

He was elderly man, bald and wrinkled, but strong. He had a few scars—the sign of a veteran.

“Yes, that’s me. What’s happening?”

"The government has accepted your offer," said the officer in a reassuring tone. “They sent me and my soldiers to protect you.”

Hai glanced outside. Soldiers were beginning to set up sandbags in the courtyard to form barricades. Others were unloading heavy machine guns.

“All of this…they’re all going to protect me?”

“During the brief, it was explained that your data contains technical schemes worth tens of billions of yen. This could obviously make the most powerful, malicious people turn heads.”

His words made the whistleblower shiver.

"What is it, miss?"

“After I tried to leak the data, the Enki director called me. He told me that the data I had recovered would attract the worst people on the planet. I thought he was just exaggerating to intimidate me, but now that you say that…he was serious, wasn’t he?”

“Don’t worry. I fought with Overwatch during the Omnium Crisis. And the soldiers in my company are skilled and well-trained. We’ll protect you. I promise.”

His put Hai slightly more at ease. The captain took a small earpiece from his pocket and handed it to her.

“Put this on so that we can reach each other, just in case.”

The whistleblower nodded, and did as he said.

 “Now you should find somewhere to get some rest,” he said. “I can tell by looking at you that you’re severely lacking sleep.”

“Ok. But before I do, there's something I have to tell you about the data...”

_**_

_*_

Amelie tossed her rifle back and forth, passing it from her right hand to her left. She was bored.

It had only been a few hours since she’d killed her last target, and she was still charged up. But she was stuck in an aircraft, and had nothing to do. She was starting to get restless.

Right in front of her was Reaper. This sinister, enormous figure stood motionless as a statue, his arms crossed.

Some of Talon's henchmen were with them in the aircraft, but Amelie basically ignored them.

“What does it feel like to have a body like yours?” she asked Reaper with a soft voice.

His masked face turned towards her.

"Nothing," Reaper said austerely.

Amelie raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“Cold, heat, hunger, satiety, sexual desire...I don’t experience any of these sensations. Except for one: suffering.”

"That sounds pretty boring," said Widowmaker.

“But I can still feel mental emotions. The feeling of power when I kill, the satisfaction of succeeding, or the thrill of getting revenge. That's all I have left.”

He paused, then asked, “And how did you feel when you killed your own husband? What’s it like to murder the man you love?”

Amelie’s eyes widened. She was taken aback and disturbed by this question.

"It was hard," she said in a confused voice. “He hadn’t done anything to deserve it. Especially not that…something that can never be undone. All I needed was to spy on him, that’s all...”

A look of horror came over her.

"I shouldn’t have..." She suddenly closed her eyes and grimaced, as if feeling a sharp pain ran through her body. Her face fell into her hands. Finally, when she lifted her head, her expression was blank.

"But Talon's enemies have to be eliminated," she said in a heartless voice.

Reaper chuckled.

"I like it better when you're like that," he said. “It makes the mission easier.”

Amelia didn’t reply. She felt it was useless to speak unless it benefitted Talon in some way.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Finally, the first reports came in.

 “Ahhh, the target’s in a police station protected by infantry troops. It’ll be easy,” Reaper said, chuckling.

“So what’s the plan?” Widowmaker asked.

“Our forces will launch a frontal diversion assault. That’ll bide you some time to get into an optimal firing position and for me to get inside. Then, your helmet will help us spot the target. I’ll handle the girl and retrieve the data. In the meantime, have fun as much as you want. That should distract them.”

Amelie nodded.

They stepped out of the aircraft. It was a moonless night, the stars provided just a glimmer of light.

Widowmaker activated her grapple hook and started swinging from roof to roof. From above, she could already see Talon's agents spreading out and moving in on the police station. Reaper had disappeared from her field of vision.

Amelie reached the farthest possible point without the running the risk of being spotted. All she had to do was wait.

Talon's squads threw some grenades at the Chinese soldiers. The terrorists’ camouflaged black armor and night vision helmets were ideal to launch a surprise attack. Well-trained and heavily armed, they broke up the first line of Chinese army’s defense.

But the soldiers didn’t let themselves be taken down easily. The front line reacted quickly and fired as they took cover, and the second line took on Talon’s agents with a heavy machine gun attack.

Then hidden armed soldiers launched a side counter-attack on the terrorists. Talon's squads, completely taken off guard, had to withdraw, leaving a few of their men dead. Given the Chinese army’s numbers and organization, it seemed like they had a good chance of fighting off Talon.

But for Talon, it was only a diversion tactic. Amelie had reached a high position in the meantime, giving her the best vantage point, according to their plan. The Chinese guards still didn’t notice her.

From above, she could see a black, blurry figure, moving in on the police courtyard, camouflaged by the dark night. It went unnoticed next to battle that ensued. It was Reaper, infiltrating the enemy lines.

Widowmaker activated her helmet and lowered it over her eyes. It gave her a heightened

thermal vision.

Amélie came across a frazzled young woman in a secluded room, who seemed terrified by the shoot-out.

"Civilian spotted, could be our target," she said in a cold voice into her headset. “Second floor, left hallway, third room down.”

"Affirmative," replied Reaper’s sinister voice. “Move to phase 2 of the plan.”

His obscure form hid behind a pillar. Then, Reaper raced at full speed towards the police station door. Two soldiers guarded the entrance. They frantically raised their weapons but Reaper, reacting with superhuman speed, shot them down with a single bullet each from his colossal shotgun.

He entered the building.

Amelie, grinning with excitement, changed her weapon into a precision rifle. Then she aimed the gun at one of the soldiers with a machine gun, and fired. Even before the body hit the ground, Widowmaker fired a second time, knocking down another armed soldier. As soon as this path was clear, Talon's agents could regain their plan of attack.

"Genuis," said the assassin.

The soldiers, though, weren’t that naive. They figured out where the shots had come from and started firing in Amelie’s direction.

And here’s exactly where Widowmaker’s grapple hook came in handy; she’d already swung to a new position after her second shot. Amused, she saw that she’d thrown the soldiers off.

 She quickly got into firing position. A wicked smirk appeared on her face as she pulled the trigger again.

_**_

_*_

“What can you see?” Morrison asked, concentrated.

"A company of Chinese soldiers trying to fight Talon forces, who just stormed the police station," his co-worker replied, peering into her precision rifle.

“So the whistleblower must be inside. Our contact was telling the truth.”

Jack and Ana had immediately gone to China after they met with the fence, not even taking the time to take a look at the recovered data. They’d gotten in touch with informants through previous contacts, and they managed to trace Hai to the police station and get there just at the time of the attack.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a precision shot. Ana turned her head in that direction.

“She’s here!” she yelled.

“Who?!”

“Widowmaker. The psychopath who killed so many of our agents and took my eye out.”

 Ana couldn’t mask the rage in her voice. The painful memory of their last confrontation come back to her. The pain to bring death. The sadness of lost. The shame of failure.

“She is murdering these soldiers. I have to stop her! And I won’t hesitate this time.”

 Ana couldn’t run away from this fight. Never again.

"Go," Morrison said. “I’ll find Hai Yin. Be careful.”

The Egyptian laughed. “Ha! You’re telling me to be careful?"

They went separate ways. Morrison rushed to the side of the police station. There were a few windows but he couldn’t get in, they were barred. But that wasn’t going to stop Soldier 76. He pointed his gun at the nearest window and drew a salvo from his rockets that left a smoking hole in the glass.

He immediately climbed the wall. Some soldiers heard the noise and came around at ground level. They immediately shot at Morrison scaling the wall, but the veteran moved too quickly and he slipped in through the window without a scratch.

Ana cautiously moved closer to the shootout, hiding in the shadows. When she saw Widowmaker shoot again, she aimed her weapon at her. Widowmaker had already swung in another direction with her grapple hook.

Ana followed her position with her gun. She waited until Widowmaker landed, held her breath and fired.

A syringe darted towards Widowmaker, but as it got closer, it lodged into a wall. She’d missed.

“No!” Ana shouted, furiously.

In less than a second, Widowmaker turned towards Ana, pointed her gun at her and shot back.

The bulled hit Ana in the head, right in the middle of her mask.


	7. Chapter 5

"Lena Oxton, known as "Tracer" was the youngest recruit ever to join Overwatch. Her talent and fearlessness gave her the privilege of testing a brand new prototype for a pursuit plane, equipped with a teleportation system.

However, the test went badly. There were complications with the aircraft’s system and it disappeared without a trace. Lena has been presumed dead.

She reappeared weeks later, but completely unrecognizable. Her molecular structure had been completely morphed, making Lena a kind of apparition, incapable of maintaining a solid human form and disappearing erratically.

The problem was solved by Dr. Winston, one of the most brilliant scientists at Overwatch, who developed a device called a "chrono-accelerator." This allowed Tracer not only to stay grounded in the present time and space but also to control this inexplicable phenomenon.  
  
With these new abilities at her disposal, she quickly became one of the most famous and effective agents of Overwatch. "

- _Universal Encyclopedia of the Internet_

Lena was in a large warehouse, filled with numerous gadgets, machines and transport systems. She scanned the place excitedly.

“It's really impressive, Winston!” she said.

Winston happened to be a gorilla, who, when standing, reached about two and a half meters in height. He wore a massive armored suit that looked something like a computerized astronaut, equipped with two dorsal propellers.

He would have easily terrified anyone, if Winston didn’t walked on all fours, for the most part, reducing his height quite dramatically. He also had a very human expression, which, at that moment in the warehouse, it was very cheerful. On top of that, his discreet glasses gave him an harmless, intellectual air.

“Isn’t it?” he answered . The entire facility now operates at 73% of its former capacity. According to my predictions, we’ll reach 100% in less than two weeks. And just think,” he continued nostalgically, “during its golden age, Overwatch had dozens of bases like this, all over the world.”

“Well it’s already good step forward!” Lena said.

 Many people were working in the space, doing maintenance on the fixtures and moving parts around. They were all either very young or quite old, wearing the former blue Overwatch civilian uniform. When they two agents passed, they stopped their work and welcomed them with friendly greetings.

Lena smiled enthusiastically in return. She was a small, thin woman, and much less imposing than Winston. But it was hard to miss her with the tight yellow suit she was wearing under an aviator's jacket.

The jacket had a worn British flag sewn on the shoulder. On her other shoulder there was a pilot's badge with the name Lena Oxton. And on her yellow suit, “Tracer,” her agent name, was written in white capital letters.  
  
Over her jacket, around her chest was a machine, a mechanism with white metal parts in the middle of circular heart that diffused a ring of bluish light. She had spiked, brown hair, pierced ears and fluorescent yellow glasses.  
  
“It's amazing to see so many people who want to help us!” she said.

"Absolutely. It’s like a second family."

“Have any other former agents answered your message, by the way?”

“Yes! Enough to put together a decent squad. Unfortunately, most of them still have some business to settle before they can join us. But in a few weeks, it’ll be almost like the old days.”  
  
"And you’ll be the leader! Should I call you Commander Winston?” Asked Lena.

She mimed a military salute with a very serious expression but couldn’t hold it for more than a second before bursting into laughter. Winston smiled.

“No, no need for that. I just want us to help make the world a peaceful place again.”

“Ah, my favorite four-eyes!” said an animated voice. “Seriously Trace, how can you see anything with those glasses?”

He was a thirty-year-old man with a friendly smile. He had fair hair, a loosely trimmed mustache and beard, and dressed in a laid-back clothes—a blue shirt and jeans. He carried a tablet with him.

“Lena, do you remember Etienne?” Winston asked cheerfully.

“Of course! You worked in the intelligence service, right?”

"Glad to see that the famous Tracer hasn’t forgotten me," said the man with a wink. “Yes, I was Gérard Lacroix's assistant.”

"It was thanks to Etienne, actually, that we could finance the reconstruction of this base," explained Winston. “And he was also the one who told me about the break-in that Talon had planned.”

“Oh wow! Thanks love.”

“Well, it wasn’t all me. Gérard had set up an intelligence network and put aside large amounts of money in secret bank accounts. He said it would come in handy. When he died, I just received the money.”

"But you chose to give us some," Winston said earnestly.

"It’s what Gerard would have wanted."

“So, now what are we doing?” Lena asked.

"I’ve been thinking we should help some of our friends finish their business," Winston started. “We need to get them together as quickly as possible. Can you brief us on that?” He asked Etienne.

"Of course," he said and started typing on his tablet. “There's something in Germany where you could…”

He suddenly stopped, staring at his screen, shocked. He started cursing in French.

"Hm, I don’t know any of those ones…" said Tracer, thrown-off.

“What’s going on?” asked Winston, alarmed.

“Talon attacked a police station in China. It looks like your two best friends are in on it.”

Winston wondered what he meant by "best friends." But when the Frenchman showed them his tablet and he understood the irony. On the screen were the pictures of two people: Widowmaker and Reaper.

Lena’s face was immediately tenacious, but Winston looked worried. They knew what they were up against with this duo. Tracer had already attempted to interfere during one of Widowmaker’s lethal missions. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t stop Widowmaker from killing her target. Winston had better luck; he foiled Reaper’s plan to steal data from an old Overwatch base.

And most recently, the both agents had prevented Talon's squads from stealing a powerful weapon, marking an active revival of Overwatch.   
  
“Do you know why?” Winston asked.

"It's loading," said Etienne, as the tablet was receiving new data. “Here it is...the police station is housing a whistleblower who is believed to have valuable information and technical plans. The two one of them must want to retrieve these data.”

"If they get their hands on it, they'll kill that girl," said the  . “We have to stop them.”

"It looks like there are other parties involved," Etienne said.

He tapped his tablet and the screen showed a picture of a masked Soldier 76.

“That’s who attacked a few old Overwatch facilities guarded by Hélix Security,” Etienne explained. “He’s also fought a few criminal gangs around the world, causing a lot of collateral damage. Most people agree that he’s one of our former colleague…no one really knows for sure.”

"He gives Overwatch a bad reputation," said Winston, annoyed. “We'll have to stop him too.”

“So let’s go?” asked Tracer, almost bouncing with excitement.

"Of course," said the scientist. 

“Awesome! I’ll fly!”

She started running in the direction of the armory. There was a flash of bluish light, then she disappeared. The two others could hear her voice, from afar. “I’ll race you!"

"Please don’t tell me you're going to use your propellers to race her," Etienne said to Winston, jokingly. “The new tiles wouldn’t be able to handle your landing, they’ve just been redone.”

“Of course I won’t. At least one of us has to keep their head on straight.”

_* *_

_*_

Hai was in a room in the police station, a simple, temporary housing for new policeman. She lay on the bed, curled up against the wall. She heard a loud shot that made her jump.

The commotion from the fighting had woken her up a few minutes earlier and she’d been waiting since then, restless. Hai had never in her life imagined ending up a situation like this. She’d thought she might be fired, indicted, or simply left in a state of misery. But not this.

Suddenly the door opened. A massive black silhouette stood there, wearing a sinister white mask and holding two daunting guns. Hai screamed.

In less than a second, Reaper had jumped on top of her and hit her with the butt of his gun.

Hai felt a searing pain on her face. The first thing that raced through her mind is that he’d hit her to wake her up. The next thing she knew, Reaper had thrust her up by the collar and held her in mid-air.

“Where’s the data?!” he yelled.

“I hid it! It’s not here! Don’t hurt me…please!!”

If Hai was too terrified to notice that while she was unconscious, the room had been searched, including her bag and pockets.  
  
“Where is it?!” Reaper snarled.

“It’s in Lijang Tower! Please…don’t kill me!”  
  
The sound of an automatic weapon blasted through the room as she fell to the ground. Reaper had dropped her to dodge the bullets.

At the doorway stood the   army captain, aiming at his weapon.

“Run!” he yelled. “I'll take care of this creature!”

Hai didn’t think twice. She opened a window and jumped outside. The captain had drawn a combat knife and got between Hai and Reaper to protect her.

Reaper sneered mockingly. He easily matched the captain’s knife with one of his combat blades, then fired a shot with his rifle. The captain dodged it in time and the bullets hit the wall behind him.

In one slick motion, the captain whipped out a handgun, firing bullets at the silhouette that penetrated straight to the heart, but then passed right though. It took him one second to turn into a misty, shifting form.

"You have no chance," said Reaper sinisterly.

"That voice..." the captain said, surprised. His eyes widened as he watched the shadowy figure. "It’s impossible."

"That word is meaningless in our world," said Reaper, still a misty blur.

“Gabriel Reyes?” he said, dumbfounded.

Reaper suddenly turned back into his physical form.

"You have a good memory, Captain," he said, giving him a blow from the butt of his gun.

The captain brandished his knife.

"An explosion killed you when you betrayed Morrison! “You should be dead!”

Reaper shifted as the officer thrust his knife into his chest, so that the blade hit his armor.

“I was. And I came back.”

Reaper shot again, and the captain dodged it. Reaper nonchalantly chucked his on the ground; he was out of ammo.

"Then it’s time you were dead again, traitor!"

The captain lunged towards Reaper’s head with his knife, but tricked him at the last second and jabbed it into the Reaper’s side.

Reaper groaned in pain. Full of rage, he grabbed the captain by the collar and threw him against the wall.

"You were a skilled soldier," said Gabriel, pulling the knife out of his body.

The captain tried to hoist himself up but Reaper kicked him back to the ground.

"But you weren’t good enough to join my squad back then. Looks like nothing’s changed; you’re still not good enough to fight.”

He shoved his hand inside his coat and pulled out another rifle, pointing it at the captain.  
  
"You should have known your place."

Reaper had his finger on the trigger. The captain’s face contorted with fear. He had only a few seconds left to live.

 Reyes moved to the window that Hai had escaped from. He sneered when he caught sight of his target’s green hair from afar. He stood motionless for a few seconds while black vapors emerged from his body. Then he disappeared.

Suddenly, he reappeared right in front of Hai.

" Death comes.  he said in an evil voice.

Hai fell backwards, screaming in terror.

Then a trio of rockets fell on Reyes, followed by a hail of bluish bullets. Reyes yelled in agony his body evaporated into a small, black mist.

Hai looked up towards the shots. She saw only a masked face, exuding a menacing red glow and an assault rifle pointing outside the window.  The whistleblower fled, disappearing into the night.

_**_

_*_

When her shoot hit the other sniper, the target dropped her weapon in shock and was thrown back a few feet.

Amélie watched on, satisfied. It was very hard to shoot so quickly and at such a distance, but she did it perfectly. 

Her opponent, however, managed to push herself up, staggering to a standing position. Apparently she wore a kind of mask that cushioned the shock. Whatever,  thought Amelie. Kill her will be a pleasant hunt.

Leaving the battle to Talon's squads and the Chinese troops, Widowmaker used grapple hook to get closer to the enemy. From above, she could see that the other shooter had taken off her mask. Amelie knew that face.

"Ana Amari," she said aloud, mockingly. “The world's greatest sniper... formerly.” 

Her insult seemed to have pushed a button, because the older woman had a fierce anger in her voice when she answered.  
  
“I know who you are too, Amélie Lacroix!”

The assassin smirked. She’d never tried to hide her former identity, but because of the physical enhancements she’s undergone, the visor that concealing her face and her secretive modes of operation, the world didn’t know she was Widowmaker yet.

Amelie swiveled to face a corner of a building where she’d heard Ana’s voice, coming from behind the wall. She crept in that direction, aiming her weapon.

“Good. So I don’t need to introduce myself before killing you," she sneered.

She jumped around the corner to where Ana was hiding and fired. But despite the recent hit, the Egyptian had seen the attack coming and moved in time. She hid behind a low wall before speaking again.

“Gérard survived more than a dozen attempts to assassinate Talon. Except for when you were on the scene. It was you who killed him, wasn’t it?”

Amelie's smile turned into a scowl of anger as the memory came back to her.

"Why is everybody bringing this up today?" she murmured to herself.

Widowmaker silently inched closer towards Ana’s voice again.

"What did they give you in exchange? Money? Physical enhancements? Or was it purely for the thrill of killing?”

Amelie jumped forward, shooting where she thought Ana was. Ana dodged the attack again and fired back with her handgun. A syringe flew passed Widowmaker and landed behind her.

For a split second, their eyes met. They both immediately shifted back to take took cover. In the distance, sounds of airplanes were heard overhead.

"That's it," Ana said in a disgusted voice. “You like to kill. I can see it in your face.”

She paused briefly before adding, sadly, "  

The insult enraged her.

"You don’t know anything about him!" she shouted.

Widowmaker flicked her wrist and the grapple hook unraveled, clinging to a wall, then retracted, and with a skillful thrust of the legs, she flew in the air towards Anna at full speed.

She hit Ana head on and the impact knocked her to the ground. The assassin landed perfectly.

"You have no idea what I’ve been through!" Widowmaker yelled, giving her a blow with gun.

Ana groaned. The pain from the two hits was immobilizing.

"You stupid old hag," said Amelie, pointing her gun at Ana.

She mustered up the words through the pain to answer.

"Less stupid than you think."

She grabbed one of the spheres she had packed and threw it on the ground. The orb shattered, diffusing a golden haze.

This time it was Amelie who cried out in pain. But the haze didn’t seem to harm Ana at all. She pushed herself up and ran to get her gun.

Suddenly she heard the sounds of boots. The aircrafts she’d heard proved to be carriers with dozens of soldiers. The Chinese army had sent reinforcements.  Talon's troops were already withdrawing.

After one last glance of hatred, Amélie used her grapple hook to escape. Ana quickly fled too, slipping into the night’s shadows.

_**_

_*_

Soldier 76 scanned the darkness. Hai had well disappeared. He wouldn’t find her tonight.

Morrison knew that was just a minor setback; he’d have other chances to find Hai, and defeating Reaper was already a great victory. But still…he felt the pang of failure, a burning ache all over his body. Those responsible for the fall of Overwatch had remained unpunished for too long.

In the distance, the sounds of combat had stopped. Soldier 76 knew he should get out of there as soon as possible. But he had something to do before that.

Morrison walked towards the injured captain and activated one of his biotic field generators. He hadn’t been able to save his agents from Gabriel in the past. But he could save this one. He couldn’t bear adding even more weight to his burden.  

"I recognize you," said the officer, panting. “You're...that fugitive...who...attacked the old... Overwatch facilities...guarded by Helix.

Jack's red visor was fixed on the captain's eyes. He didn’t answer.

"You’re wanted...by an international warrant...I should stop you," he said, slowly regaining his voice as the generator healed him.

He laughed feebly. “As if I can do anything in this state.”

Still no response.

"Anyway, thank you," said the captain, his breathing back to normal. “You’ve saved my life. I'll tell the world.”

Morrison nodded silently.

“Actually, now that I can see you better, you look familiar. Have we already met?”

Without a word, Morrison picked up the biotic device and left the room.

“It guess…it must have been in another life,” the captain said.

"It was another life," Soldier 76 whispered to himself.

 


	8. Chapter 6

Jack walked towards his teammate  , holding something behind his back.

“How are you?” he asked, in a softer tone than usual.

Ana was lying on a mattress, with a large pillow behind her head and a damp towel on her forehead. She gave Morrison a friendly smile.

“Not bad, considering. My mask absorbed most of the impact and I injected medical nanites right away. I think that’s what saved me. But I still need some rest. This technology has limits .”

They were in a small apartment rented from a clandestine hotel, the kind of establishment that doesn’t ask questions. Ana and Jack’s military equipment  were on the floor. Ana’s mask been split in two from Widowmaker’s shot.

“And you? You missed the girl, right?”

"Gabriel got there before me and she ran away. But I was able to settle the score. Just for that, the fight was worth it.”

"Are you sure he's dead?"

“After a direct impact of three rockets, it would be impossible to survive.”

“I’m not so sure, considering what he turned into.”

“Our priority is still to find Hai Yin.”

“That shouldn’t be too complicated. This life as a bounty hunter has made us pretty good at tracking someone down in a big city.”

Amari looked up at the window, looking more anxious.

“It worries me that I missed my shot. That hasn’t happened since...I don’t even remember the last time.”

“Have you been practicing since your...disappearance?”

Ana tried to hold back her emotion. It was difficult for her to think about the last six years, pretending to be dead to the world...and to her closest friends.

"No, not really.”

“That’s why. You must be rusty.”

“Yeah…I hope that’s the only reason.”

Morrison didn’t answer and Ana continued to look out the window. They stayed in silence for a few seconds. Then Jack finally spoke.

"I made you some tea," he said, showing her the pot he carried behind his back.

Ana beamed.

“Thanks, Jack. That's really nice of you.”

The former commander poured her a cup and handed it to her. She carefully took a sip.

"Mmm, not bad," she said like a true connoisseur. “But you have a wide margin for progress.”

"You can teach me your technique next time we have a break."

 

"There's never a break with you, Jack," she answered, amused. “We spend all our time running from one shooting to another. And if we stop, it's because one of us is too hurt to keep going.”

“What do you expect? A soldier’s work is never finished.”

Ana took another sip of tea.

 

“Anyway, Ana...we haven’t really had the chance to talk the last weeks.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you tell me more about why you’ve been hiding for seven   years, pretending to be dead?"

His tone was curious and slightly reproachful. This time Ana couldn’t hold back a shudder. She was suffering from the shame; it felt like a dagger in her stomach. She couldn’t even look Jack in the eyes.

"After I failed to stop Widowmaker from killing two of our agents—and taking my eye out—I   thought my old life was over…that it was time to let a new generation take over.”

Her weakness and had cost her so much to the people she loved.

"And why did you come back?"

Ana pulled herself together a bit and raised her head.

“The world has been deteriorating since the fall of Overwatch. At one point it, it was unbearable. I couldn’t just sit back and watch…so I took up arms again.”

And this time she swore that she’d be there if a friend needed help.

Jack nodded. He’d listened attentively as Ana spoke.

"As I said, the work of a soldier is never finished.”

_***_

“In attempting to reestablish Overwatch, you’ve violated the Petras Act and became outlaws. I shouldn’t even talk to you.”

"Now hold on, Captain," said Winston. “You know we’re on your side! We’ve already confronted the enemy who attacked your troops, and we defeated them.”

Winston was in the cockpit of a transport device. Tracer was next to him, sitting in the pilot's seat, busy flying the aircraft. In front of the gorilla was a screen that showed the captain in charge of protecting Hai Yin. He was bedridden, wearing a hospital gown and splint  .

"All we want to do is help," the scientist said.

“Protecting this young woman is my companies’  responsibility.”

“Listen love," Tracer stepped in, “using a bunch of soldiers on the defensive won’t work against Talon, they’re too mobile. They’ll play the same game every time; diversion then infiltration.”

"Without our help, your chances of being overtaken again are 83%," Winston continued. “We know that the elite troops in your country are all too busy dealing with the Second Omnium Crisis. We’re the best reinforcements you’ve got.”

The captain, hesitating, closed his eyes. He was silent few seconds.

"If you let us take the lead, we can save your soldiers," added Winston.

This last argument finally convinced him.

“Ok. I’ll leave you in charge of protecting Hai Yin when we can find a safe hiding place for her.”

“Do you have a plan?” Winston asked enthusiastically.

“Yes. It appears that the United Nations has safeguarded secret Overwatch centers designed to hide key witnesses or informants in danger. They have the most advanced scrambler  technology in the world. My government is negotiating to have Hai Yin admitted into one of these bases. When they approve, she should be safe. But it’ll take some time to sort out.”

"We'll protect her for as long as it takes."

"I’ll send you the details for the meeting point with Hai and the squad that I’ve assigned to her. Then it’ll be up to you. Please, don’t make me regret this.”

"You won’t," Winston said optimistically. “You have our word.”

The transmission was cut. On the screen, the image went from the captain to Etienne.

"I think that went pretty well," said the Frenchman.

"Indeed," said Winston. “Thank you for putting us in contact.”

"That's my job," he said, cheerfully. “It's up to you now to do yours," he added with a wink.

“How long before we land?” Winston asked Tracer.

"About twenty minutes .”

“Perfect! Enough time for a bit to eat.”

He walked over to the aircraft’s main room and starting looking through the cupboards. Tracer put on a stopwatch on the panel and started chuckling discretely, and Etienne smiled.

"Where did it go? I’m sure a put a jar of peanut butter over here.”

Tracer tried not to laugh.

"Did I forget to bring it? I put it on my to-do list!”

He paused. “Lena…did you hide my peanut butter again?”

Tracer stopped the clock before bursting out laughing. Winston got back into the cockpit.

“So, how long?” Etienne asked.

"15.3 seconds," Tracer said still giggling.

“Damn! You win this round, roast beef.”

“Better luck next time, froggy," the pilot said with a wink.

"Can someone fill me in here?" asked Winston.

"Etienne and I bet on the how long it would take you to realize," Lena said, giggling.

 

She opened one of the storage compartments near her and pulled out the peanut butter jar, and chucked it at Winston.

"Seriously, Winston," Etienne said. “After all these years at Overwatch, you still need fifteen seconds to get that her fault if  something’s missing?”

"After the Petras Act, I was alone for a few years," he said, opening the jar. “I guess I lost the knack.”

 

He took a bunch of bananas from another locker, peeled one, and dunked into the jar.

“But it must be said that your notion of humor is particularly difficult to understand and extremely illogical.”

Etienne and Tracer burst out laughing again. Winston raised an eyebrow, then kept eating.

Although he’d spent his whole life with around humans, he didn’t completely understand them. But in the end, he loved them—that’s all that mattered.

 

_***_

 

"So, basically, the target fled and you were defeated?" Amelia asked in a sanguine voice.

Reaper grunted, annoyed.

"How is it possible that you’re still going on about it? It’s been hours already.”

"I shot Ana Amari in the head just after she missed me, proving that I’m the better shooter. That alone is enough to put me in a good mood for a while.”

 

Ana had also  brought up dark memories of what happened with Gerard, which riled her up emotionally. However, it wasn’t the kind of detail that Amélie wanted to share with anyone.

She and Reaper  were on board a Talon aircraft, sitting at a table. Reaper displayed a holographic map of the city.

"Yes," Reaper admitted finally. “But it wasn’t a complete fail. I found out that the girl didn’t have the data. She hid it in Lijang Tower. Besides, now I know that Morrison’s in on it. Knowing him, he’s after the same thing.”

“The Lijang Tower is a gigantic complex with dozens of floors. We’ll have to look for a while.”

"We won’t go through everything. Only where the girl has already been.”

"And how do we know where she’s been?"

“The Enki Corporation injected a tracker to record her trips before sending the information to her superiors.”

“Ahhh, I get it. We go to Enki's offices and get the tracking data.”

“Exactly. All the tracking information about their top employees is hidden in the same place as top secret data, which means it’s out of bounds for us. But the intermediate employee tracking is easier to access. Enki invests more money to protect the schematics of its devices than to defend the data of its employees.”

“And once we have the tracking data, we can trace exactly where Hai Yin has been in Lijang Tower. Good plan. There, that’s more like you,” Amélie said, a hint of admiration in her voice.

She leaned towards the map and zoomed in to Lijang Tower.

“The complex is highly secured. We’ll definitely be spotted. And those two idiots are likely to come back. There may be more of them, too.”

“Even better. That way I can check off a few names from my list," Reaper said, grimly.

"I know that vengeance is sweet. But don’t forget what we’re after. The data is priority.”

“Fulfilling the mission is always my priority.”

“One last thing, Reaper.”

Amélie's gaze hardened, her voice went cold.

"Never mention Gerard dead  again."

The dark silhouette was silent a few seconds.

"Fine," he said.

He had a sense of respect for the murderer.

"And never mention what happened to me again," he added.

Amélie smiled.

"We have a deal," she said softly.

“Let's get back to work. There's a mission to finish.”


	9. Chapter 7

_Fourteen years ago_

"There, finished," said Winston proudly, typing on the computer.

"Fascinating," said a woman in a white coat in front of him. “This is a PhD-level physics problem. And you solved it with no difficulties.”

Winston was in a transparent cage with only the computer inside. He wore his glasses and no other kind of equipment.

"Well…my mentor was a very good teacher," he said.

“It was Dr. Harold Winston, right?”

A sad expression came across the scientist’s face.

“Yes, that's right.”

A door opened, and a blond, muscular man with a certain charisma walked in. It was Jack Morrison. Winston was immediately enthusiastic when he saw him.

"Good morning, sir," said the woman. “Thanks for taking the time to come by in person.”

"Good morning," Jack answered.

Then he looked at Winston with intriguingly, instead of the surprise or terror that most people had at the sight of him. Winston had said that it was normal for such an exceptional individual to be less impressionable.

“Hello, what’s your name?” he said, addressing the gorilla.

“Winston. If I may, it’s a great honor to meet you Commander! Oh, and…hello too.

Morrison nodded politely and turned to the woman.

“Fill me in," he ordered.

“As you are well aware, Horizon’s lunar colony has been using a genetic modification program, more advanced than anything up until now. The test subjects were this species of gorilla. The aim was to improve their physical and intellectual capacities.”

"But it’s gone wrong, hasn’t it?"

“That's right. The program worked well for a long time. But a few weeks ago, we received a distress call from Horizon: the gorillas had revolted. Apparently, according to the latest update, they killed all the humans and taken control of the colony.”

Winston's expression grew profoundly sad.

"It’s horrible, what the others did," he said. “I don’t agree, and I don’t understand it. We owe you so much…”

“Then, the next day, a shuttle from Horizon arrived, with this specimen on board. He willingly came and collaborated with all our tests.”

"I’ve also read in the reports that he wanted to join Overwatch," Morrison said.

“Yes! It’s my dream!”

"Anyway," said the woman. “Our tests showed that the genetic program has not only reached our expectations, it exceeded them. This specimen has a highly developed strength and intellectual capacity, on par with the greatest scientists...”

"I owe it to my mentor," Winston said humbly. “He taught me so much.”

"... while remaining docile," woman concluded.

"Hm, yes I suppose I am," Winston said with an embarrassed smile.

“Very good. And why have you asked me to come?” asked Morrison.

“Although my company implemented project Horizon, Overwatch financed most of it. So this specimen belongs to your organization. We would like your permission to continue our tests on him. We need to understand what makes him stand out from the others…why they rebelled and he didn’t.”

"Hm," Winston said. “I can understand that continuing to keep me as a guinea pig could somewhat help your research. But I think I would be much more useful to this world—and to science—if I were an independent researcher. I have a lot of projects I’d like to achieve!” he finished with an awkward, enthusiastic smile.

"Your reports say he's got free will," Jack said to the woman. “Do you agree with that?” he asked Winston directly.

“Well, I’m able to think for myself, make decisions and communicate them. So yes, I would say that’s correct.”

"Possessing a living being with free will and capability to communicate it slavery," declared Morrison. “This is immoral and illegal. Overwatch can therefore not claim ownership of this individual.”

Winston smiled. Since the death of his mentor, no one had called him ‘an individual.’

"But hold on," said the woman. “It's an animal. It doesn’t have the same rights as a human being.”

“Um… you know I can hear you?” asked Winston, slightly embarrassed. “Isn’t saying that in front of me quite…how do you say…impolite?”

"Exactly," Morrison said, glancing at the woman. “And for me it doesn’t change anything.”

“But…there’s no law put in place!” the researcher said desperately.

“I will talk to the UN. There’ll be a new law. You'll be officially free in a few weeks," he told Winston. “In the meantime, we’ll be staying at one of our bases. It’ll be a good opportunity to find a way to integrate you into our society.”

The woman gave a submissive sigh. She knew she couldn’t win.

“Thank you very much, Commander!” Winston beamed. “I don’t want to give the impression of being ungrateful but…what about my candidacy for Overwatch?”

“You’ll have to go through the recruitment process. I can’t promise anything.”

"That's all I ask, Commander. Thank you again. You’ve changed my life.”

 

_Present day_

"Are you sure, Captain?" Hai asked through her headset.

"Honestly, miss, not really. But it's the best option we have. You’ve seen what we’re dealing with here.”

He paused. Then continued.

“I’m very sorry. I would have liked to be able to protect you better.”

"You’ve done your best, you saved me. I’ll be eternally grateful to you.”

"Thank you, miss. Those are comforting words for an old, wounded man. Good luck for whatever awaits you.”

The whistleblower was in an alley in a residential area, accompanied by a small squad of soldiers. It was in the early afternoon, and the place was deserted. Most people living in the neighborhood were working.

After she’d fled the police station, the captain got in touch with Hai through the earpiece he’d given her. He’d sent a squad to protect her, and hide her on the premises.

A few minutes ago, he’d reached her again to tell her the meeting point with Tracer and Winston. Hai had set out with her escorts.

"We’re almost there," said the sergeant who commanded the squad, when they walked down a new lane.

"Good morning," a masculine voice said in a friendly tone.

The soldiers raised their weapons. A man had stepped out from behind a parked truck.

He was very handsome with coppery skin, long black hair that framed his square face, and magnificent blue eyes—everything about him was charming.

He wore a metallic gray bullet-proof armor, much better equipped than the soldiers. Strapped to his body was a strange electric rifle and a pistol, which didn’t seem lethal.

"Hey guys, take it easy. Let’s talk, shall we?” he smiled.

“Who are you?” the sergeant asked.

"You look familiar," Hai said. “Wait…you were an Overwatch officer, right? You were all over the media in its heyday.”

"That's right, young lady," he said with a charming smile.

"Did Winston send you?" asked Hai, hopefully. “Are you here to protect me?”

“I am,” he said.

"And why didn’t Winston come himself?" the sergeant asked, suspiciously.

“Unfortunately, he was delayed. But he’ll join me as soon as possible. I promise.”

The sergeant seemed hesitant. The man sensed this, and calmly walked closer.

“Listen, sergeant, I understand you're anxious. The last few days have been rough. Facing Talon's best troops is not easy. But I assure you that there’s nothing to fear. As the young woman said, I was an officer at Overwatch, and now I help Winston. You can trust me.”

The man’s soothing voice and charming manner convinced the soldier.

“Ok, we’ll leave it to you.”

“Thank you, sergeant. You won’t regret it.”

"Those scum from Talon killed a lot of our troops. If you see them, make them pay.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

The squad finally left. When they were out of sight, the former Overwatch agent let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, the coast is clear," he said.

Nine other fighters emerged. Like the officer, they wore black bulletproof armor and non-lethal electric weapons.

They’d positioned themselves so that they could ambush Hai and the escorts.

"Get into the truck, please," the man said to Hai.

She did. The back of the truck had a few lockers and several seats. The whistle blower sat down.

"I think you’re quite sharp, so it’s only a matter of time until you figure out the truth. I’ll spare you the charades.”

He handcuffed her.

“On behalf of Helix Security, you are under arrest for theft, and violation of the confidentiality clause of your contract.”

Hai eyes widened.

”You work for Helix?”

“Obviously...yes.”

“But your job at Overwatch…”

“That’s over now. Overwatch no longer exists. Haven’t you heard of the Petras Act?”

"But how did you know that Winston was coming to escort me?"

“I didn’t know. Basically, I wanted escorts to leave without a fight, seeing that I’m better equipped. A shootout against government troops could  have ruined my career in less than ten minutes. My company was prepared to cover me up to a certain point. But why take a risk ?  Then I overheard this sergeant talking about this "meeting point" and you asked me if I had come to protect you. I understood that I could capture you without a fight.”

He added, very proud of himself, “A stroke of luck, really. But I made the most of it.”

Hai looked at the handcuffs, horrified.

“Your employer is a private company…you don’t have the right to arrest me!”

“Please, miss, we’re not in the 20th century anymore. Helix has signed agreements with other multinationals, the UN and dozens of governments. So yes, agents of a private firm have the right to arrest you.”

"Listen! If you were an Overwatch agent then you know the importance of ethical actions. I swear I didn’t take...”

"Miss," he interrupted, “I see that you’re very motivated but let me spare you the unnecessary waste of energy. I was only part of Overwatch because at the time, it was the most famous and prestigious military organization in the world. I’m not an idealist like Winston or Tracer. So don’t expect me to ruin my career by freeing you because you think you did a good deed.”

"You're just mercenary," Hai said bitterly.

 

"Well that’s a very simplistic vision," retorted the other, offended. “Money doesn’t really interest me. I do it for fame.”

He stood up and added, “And I'm not a monster, you know. Do you want something to drink by the way?” he said, opening a locker, which turned out to be a fridge. “It’ll be a long journey.”

 

_A few hours later_

“What do you see?” Morrison asked his partner.

“Um, she got off the truck. But there are five armed people around her who just got out of two vehicles. From what I can see by their equipment, I think they’re mercenaries hired by a company. Probably Helix agents.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. Their leader is one of our old officers. You know, that gorgeous snob from South America—very vain, loved seeing his own face in the media,” she said, giggling a little. “At least he always avoided collateral damage during his missions,” she added, more seriously.

“Ah yes, I remember. Target him first. That’ll disorient his squad.”

Jack gestured to the truck, but Ana interrupted.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“It’s Winston. He’s flying  towards them.”

_***_

Hidden behind a car, Tracer watched her teammate arrive. Winston activated his dorsal propellers and flew towards Hai and the soldiers who’d framed him, making some cracks on the ground where he landed.

Winston was armed with a massive cannon. An ordinary man would have barely been able to carry it with two hands, but Winston held it easily only one.

The Helix soldiers jumped and immediately pointed their weapons at the massive gorilla. With a smile, the pilot unleashed her two automatic pistols, made of smooth white metal with strips of blue energy. She snuck around the Helix forces, taking advantage of the diversion that Winston created.

"Good morning, Lieutenant.”

"Hello Winston," said Helix officer, smoothly. “How long has it been? Six years? And actually, it's Major now,” he finished proudly.

“Don’t trust him!” Hai yelled. “He works for Helix!”

“You must be Hai,” the gorilla said. “Don’t worry, I know. But still, I'm sure we're going to be able to handle this situation calmly, without any violence.”

His attention turned to the Helix officer.

"By the way, did you get my message?"

“You mean the one about rebuilding Overwatch? Listen, Winston, thanks for thinking of me but I can’t. Your proposition is in violation of the Petras Act. Theoretically, I should arrest you for that. But hey, I know you're a good guy, so I won’t. But anyway, it would make me feel better if you left now. I’m putting a lot on the line for doing you a favor.”

“I don’t want to cause any problems for you,” the scientist said.

Hai was in disbelief. Tracer activated her communicator.

"Watch out," she whispered. “He’s trying to mess with you. Don’t forget why we're here.”

"Sorry..." said the scientist. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding. You and your squad have brought this young woman here. You see, a local army officer instructed me to protect her from Talon. Could you leave her with me, please?”

"I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Winston. She broke her confidentiality contract and is therefore a criminal. As you know, agreements between Helix and the UN authorize us to act as law enforcement.”

“Her government actually gave her whistleblower status. So she’s not a criminal.”

"Look, Winston, I think we should let the lawyers settle this kind of debate. It's not really our specialty, is it? In the meantime, I'll take her to Hélix headquarters. It’s a highly secure place so Talon won’t be able to get in. And if the court decides that she’s not guilty, she’ll be released. You have my word.”

"That seems like a reasonable solution," said the scientist.

“If they take me there, they’ll never let me out!” Hai shouted, panicking.

"She's right, big guy,"  Tracer whispered into her headset. “These companies  have had big egos ever since Overwatch disbanded. They don’t respect anything.”

"But," Winston replied quickly. “I’d still prefer it if she came with me.”

"I can’t allow that, Winston,” he said again, disappointed.

“Well, then it appears we have a problem.”

The two of them silently stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, hesitating about their next move.

“I guess the next step is…we fight each other?” the scientist asked, insecurely.

“It’s about time!” Tracer said into the headset.

“Shoot...I really didn’t want it to come to this,” the Major said.

He drew his electric weapon.

“Non-lethal weapons,” he said. Then to himself, “Killing an old Overwatch star wouldn’t go over so well.”

He aimed his gun and shot, his squad followed suit.


	10. Chapitre 8

When the Helix soldiers opened fire, Winston quickly put something on the ground. It was a circular energy barrier that blocked the electric shocks.

Tracer then jumped out of her hiding place and rushed towards Hai and the agents.

“Cheers, love! The cavalry's here.”

She fired bullets that rained down on one of the Helix agents, deactivating his weapon instantly. There was a bluish flash and the pilot appeared right next to Hai. She knocked out one of agents with the butt of her gun and gave the officer a leg sweep.

“Congrats on your promotion, Major!” she said, as he fell to the ground.

Helix's soldiers pointed their weapons at her, but Tracer grabbed Hai’s arm. There was another blue flash and the two women disappeared.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this," said Winston. “Well...good luck with your career.” he adds, with a sincere naivety.

He picked up his barrier generator, activated his propellers and took off into the air.

“Follow them!” the Major roared as he activated his headset.

"The captive fled, we need reinforcements!" he shouted.

_***_

"I'm going out there," Morrison said to Ana, grabbing his weapon.

“What? To fight Tracer and Winston?!”

“They’ve got the girl.”

“Jack, they were our agents! They’re part of the family! And besides, you were the only one in Overwatch who’s more of a boy-scout than they are!”

“We don’t have time to talk about it. Cover me!”

Soldier 76 ran in the direction that Tracer and Winston had fled.

_***_

“Are you okay?” Lena asked Hai, taking off her handcuffs.

“I think so... yes.”

“Pretty hair!”

"Oh...thanks..." Hai answered, a little stunned about what had just happened.

"I want to dye mine too when I get the chance! Pink maybe? Or white. What do you think?”

Hai, still in shock, didn’t answer. A few seconds passed and Winston landed near the two of them.

"I’m afraid they may be following us. It’s such a shame we’ve ended up fighting against Helix.”

“Well at least we get a bit of action!” Tracer said. “I’ll slow them down while you bolt with our new best friend?”

"I'm not sure she would agree to be so soon our new best friend."

“Winston!”

"Oh, it was a joke…right, sorry.”

"Take care, love," Tracer said to Hai.

She winked, then disappeared in a blue flash and a giggle.

"Careful," Winston said, gently grabbing Hai with his free hand. “It’s a shaky ride.”

It took her a second to grasp what was happening. She looked a bit worried, but she was used to extreme situations by now. She didn’t react when Winston, who still held on her, suddenly lifted off the ground.

Tracer turned back towards the Helix agents. She wanted to run for a change to save the energy on her chrono-accelerator.

Soon the enemies were in sight. She sent a warning shot.

“Stop right there!” she shouted.

The soldiers took cover before shooting back. Some electric shocks flew towards Tracer and she hid behind a car.

She glanced out cautiously to watch for any movement. Nothing happened.

“Hey Lena!” the Major shouted. “Do you remember when you sent me those passionate love letters?”

Tracer grimaced with embarrassment.

"It was Gérard, not me. He did it as revenge for a prank I tried to pull on him."

The Major laughed, like an old friend reliving funny memories.

“That was the good time, right?”

“Yeah.”

"Isn’t it sad that we’ve reached this stage?"

"Listen love, I’m not going to be thrown off by your rubbish. You’ve chosen your side, so I’d stay where you are if you don’t want me to hit you again.”

“Sorry, Lena. I have a mission to accomplish, and a promotion waiting for me. I’m not giving up.”

He came out from where he was hiding and took a few steps forward.

Tracer activated her chrono-accelerator and found herself right in front of the Major.

"Say goodbye to your promotion then," she said, and shot at her opponent's weapon.

But he’d seen it coming and managed to dodge it just in time. Other Helix soldiers showed up, ready to fire.

There was a blue flash and Tracer appeared right next to one of them. One blow to the head and the agent went unconscious.

"Didn’t see that coming, did you?"

“Watch your back!” the Major yelled. “Cover each other!”

Another blue flash. Tracer landed in front of another Helix soldier. She fired, neutralizing her opponent's weapon. The soldier tried to pull the trigger in vain, while Lena gave him a swift leg sweep. There were only three opponents left.

They started rushing towards her but she’d already left in a flash and a burst of laughter.

She reappeared behind the major. She went to hit him, but her opponent ducked and Tracer missed. He tried to strike back, and she easily dodged it.

The other soldiers aimed their weapons, so she disappeared again, then popped up next to one of them. Tracer shot the weapon out of his hands.

“She shoots, she scores!” she bragged, laughing.

She flashed again and reappeared behind the last soldier. He managed to block the first two hits, but the third one knocked him out.

Suddenly the Major hit Tracer with his electric gun.

"Ha! You're a small target, Lena.”

She grimaced in pain as the shock went through her body. Her chrono-accelerator was shining with a more intense light than usual. A blueish orb of energy around her body was repeating Lena’s last movements but in reverse.

Her body took its solid form again at the moment she was behind the Major, three seconds earlier.

The Major didn’t seem surprised. He managed to block a frontal attack. But when he countered back, Tracer disappeared in a bluish flash, then popped up behind him. The major didn’t react in time. Tracer hit him with the butt of her gun and gave him a leg sweep. He fell to the ground.

“You should have spent more time training and less time on TV,” said Tracer, mockingly.

He groaned slightly in pain before answering.

"I’m not that bad," he said, pointing to something behind the pilot.

Lena turned and saw a small, ancient looking bridge, with a clear view of where Hai and Winston had landed. They were trapped by the other Helix soldiers. The Major had just been diverting Tracer's attention while his troops ambushed.

“You see, that's why I became an officer and you’re still just an agent.”

Tracer cursed, then disappeared in a blue flash.

_***_

Morrison looked up in the sky, staring at the gorilla and the young woman he was carrying.

"It should be somewhere around here…" he said to himself.

And as he predicted, Winston landed right in front of him.

"You’re very brave," Winston said to Hai. “Most people subjected to this start screaming. Wait, stay behind me,” he said abruptly, noticing the soldier.

Hai hid behind the massive figure, and Winston walked closer to veteran.

"I recognize you! You’re the fugitive who attacked the bases guarded by Helix! Your actions are a disgrace to every former Overwatch agent!”

“You and Tracer have just done exactly the same thing.”

“I...no! We didn’t cause any serious injuries, or kill any innocent civilians by prompting a shooting in a crowded market.”

"He’s got a point," Ana said, listening in on the conversation through the headset.

Jack didn’t understand. He hadn’t open fired on the civilians. But of course, Winston reproached him for not having neutralized the criminals fast enough…for failing, yet again. He felt a pain spread through his body. He forced himself to concentrate.

"I have to speak to Hai," he said in a determined voice.

“No! Get out of here! I won’t say it again!”

"Watch out," said Amari to his teammate. “He’s starting to get agitated, and you know what he’s like when that happens.”

“I have to find out the truth about the fall of Overwatch!” Morrison said. “Let me talk to her.”

"I warned you!" cried Winston.

He activated his propellers and lunged towards Morrison, but Morrison jumped to the side in time to avoid being crushed.

"In memory of Commander Morrison!" Winston shouted, punching…the ancient commander Morrison.

Jack flew against a wall. He heard Ana chuckle.

"This isn’t time to laugh, Phantom!” he snarled, once the shock had subsided.

“Sorry, but, given the irony of the situation, I couldn’t help myself.”

Winston came closer to attack him again when a syringe penetrated his arm. Surprised, he stopped to look at it.

"Curious...” he said, then collapsed to the ground, unconscious. He started snoring a few moments after.

"Quick!" said Ana's voice. “I doubt my sleeping syringe will last more than a few seconds on him.”

Morrison ran to Hai, who had hid behind a bus. When she saw the veteran rushing towards her, she wanted to run. But she was hit hard with an electric shock and she slipped into unconsciousness.

As a reflex, Jack took cover. He realized the Major's soldiers on the bridge were shooting at him. One of them was coming to get Hai. In the distance, Morrison saw an aircraft flying with a Helix Security logo on it.

Time was ticking. But with the agents shooting at him, Jack couldn’t risk coming out of his cover.

“Phantom, can you help me with these shooters on the bridge?”

“I can try. But they’re professionals. As soon as they see me, they’ll mow me down and I won’t be able to shoot back.”

"That’ll be enough."

Ana shot. Her dart hit one of the soldiers, who immediately collapsed. Immediately, the soldiers reacted and aimed in Ana’s direction.

Seizing the opportunity, Morrison emerged from his cover and sent a trio of rockets towards the middle of the bridge, just underneath the soldiers.

The effect was devastating. The fragile structure of the old bridge didn’t withstand the highly-advanced explosives. The whole construction collapsed, and the soldiers came down with it.

Three of them disappeared in the rubble. A rock fell on another soldier’s head and he collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot. The last one had broken his neck in the fall.

“Jack, what have you done?!” Ana exclaimed, horrified.

Soldier 76 didn’t answer. He was already sprinting towards Hai’s unconscious body. Only a few centimeters separated him from the young woman. It was only a matter of time that he’d get the answers he’d been looking for years. He’d take revenge on whoever had killed his agents, his family who he wasn’t able to protect.

There was a sudden blue flash and Tracer appeared, right between him and Hai.

“Hands off!” the pilot yelled.

“You can’t stop me!” cried Morrison.

He hit her with the butt of his gun and Lena took the blow full on. Morrison heard a crack as he hit her.

With the force of the impact, Tracer staggered back a few steps. She was clearly in pain but used all of her force to brush it off. In less than a second, she picked up Hai's body, activated her accelerator and disappeared behind Jack.

"Oy!" she said, smacking Winston awake with her free hand.

“Huh? What?” said the scientist, coming to.

He looked at his wounded partner, who carried Hai, still unconscious. Then he noticed a Soldier 76, enraged, and the Helix aircraft disembarking a troop of soldiers.

Winston was a genius. In battle, he could calculate the chances of the team’s success and failure in real time.

But he didn’t need to calculate to know that flight was the best method of escape. He grabbed the two women with his hands, activated his reactors, and hovered for a few seconds in the air before disappearing into the distance.

“No!” Jack yelled in rage as he saw them escape.

He couldn’t control the feeling of pain; the burning shame of failure and weakness, the fury knowing that the guilty to know that the guilt have gain another day.

“Soldier 76!” a feminine voice suddenly shouted. “On behalf of the United Nations and Helix Security I order you to surrender immediately! It’s time for you to face your crimes!”

She spoke English with a slight Arabic accent, similar to Ana’s.

Cornered by his enemies, Jack had no choice but to run. With superhuman speed, he fled from the Helix officials, disappearing once again.


	11. Chapter 9

“Are you ok?” Hai asked Tracer.

“Yes, yes... ow!”

She’d just dressed her wound.

"I just hope we don’t have to fight again for at least a day or two," Tracer added.

"If so, we should be able to pull back quickly," said Winston.

The three were in Overwatch's aircraft, Winston was sitting on the ground. They had gone there directly after the shooting so they could protect the whistleblower.

"I can never thank you enough for saving me from Helix," said Hai. “I don’t think they’d have physically hurt me. But I definitely would have faced tons of corrupt trials in court, and in the end, I would have spent the rest of my life in prison.”

"It's a pleasure to help, love," said Tracer.

"And likewise, thank you for revealing all of Enki’s crimes," said Winston. “You’ve taken huge risks in order to build a better world. For that, you have our utmost respect.”

Hai blushed and looked down.

"Well, now’s a good time to tell you. The data that proves the crimes...I don’t have it anymore."

Tracer and Winston listened closely.

"When I fled, I thought it would be better to hide it. I knew I’d be pressured to give it up.”

“So everthing’s fine then?” asked Winston. “You just don’t have the data on you?”

“The thing is that this creature...Reaper...he came to me…”

She shuddered at the thought of him.

"He was so terrifying that I confessed where I hid the data: in Lijang Tower.”

"But he doesn’t know where exactly in the tower?" Winston asked.

“No. He just knows it's somewhere in the complex.”

“Hmm, that's still worrying. Talon will no doubt move heaven and earth to ransack the place, killing anyone who gets in their way. I’ll talk to the captain about how we should proceed.”

The scientist went to the cockpit. There was a few seconds of silence.

“So you think I should dye my hair white or pink?” Tracer asked.

"I don’t think white or pink is a good idea," Hai said like a true hair guru. “Pink only matches with white or red. And it’s kind of a "cute" look, which doesn’t really suit you. The white can work with black but it might not be the most flattering.”

"I don’t want to look like Reaper," said Tracer, laughing. “What do you think, then?”

“Do a dynamic color combo. Hm…why not go for blond and then change your pants to blue? I think that would work.”

“I’ll try it!”

Hai smiled. She felt much more relaxed now. She hadn’t been able to banter about something like this for a long time.

"You know, you’ve been my idol since I was a teen. All of your good deeds really inspired me.”

"Well, now you're a hero too," Tracer said gently.

“All I did was copy data and then pathetically failed to publish it. It's not exactly comparable to what you do.”

“You know, love, it's easy to fight the bad guys when you can instantly teleport or go back in time. You’ve had more at stake than I did in these last few days. You put your life on the line to do something right. That's why you're a hero.”

Hai blushed again, but looked Tracer in the eyes.

“Thank you,” she said.

They were silent for a minute, taking time to appreciate each other’s words.

"So, why is Winston so…naive?" Hai finally asked.

“Well…he spent a third of his life with his mentor, another third with Overwatch and the rest of his time alone. I'm not really sure exactly how long, but you catch my drift. He’s always been in touch with people who are extremely friendly and willing to do well. So he tends to see the best in people.”

Tracer glanced at the cockpit, an affectionate expression at her visage.

“It’s one of his greatest weaknesses, but also one of his greatest strengths. No one else would have been crazy enough to try to bring back Overwatch. We all thought it was over, that the world no longer wanted us. Even I did. But not Winston. He had the guts to do it.”

Then she smiled.

“Plus, he’s a complete geek and easily gullible. But we have all our faults, right? I mean, I’m always disappearing!”

 Winston walked back in the room, looking pleased.

“Good news! Negotiations with the UN are over. You’ll leave tomorrow to a secret base, equipped with a jammer to neutralize your tracker. As for the data, we’ll recover it as soon as Lena gets better.”

“Thank you. Without the proof from the data, the trial against Enki will probably last for years—the same time I’d have to spend in hiding.”

"Don’t worry, my love, we won’t let that happen," Tracer said, full of optimism.

_***_

“You killed somebody, Jack! Not even criminals, but a Helix soldier!”

“Ana, you and I both know that the only difference between a gang leader and the Helix officer is the uniform.”

After the shooting, the two veterans met in the same clandestine hotel. Ana took a few seconds to put down her equipment before yelling at her teammate.

"But most of the employees don’t realize that! They’re convinced they’re serving a respectable company and ensuring safety for the common good. And my daughter is one of them!”

Ana face grew worried.

"She saw you kill these soldiers. Now you’re a murderer in her eyes. God…how can I explain this to her?”

Jack knew she was right. He knew that what he’d done was wrong. But he didn’t want to think about it. The rage of his failure was painful, it burned throughout his body. He’d rather think about was his next move. That was much easier.

For a minute, they sat there in silence. Ana finally spoke again:

"Why did you do that, Jack?"

Morrison forced himself to concentrate and answer her. He owed that to Ana.

“It was the only option. The other soldiers arrived. We didn’t have time to take them down one by one.”

“But didn’t you know that would happen?”

“No, Ana. I'm not an engineer. It was impossible for me to predict that the whole bridge would collapse.”

"But what did you expect?"

“Not that.”

He wasn’t lying. Jack had just followed his instinct, letting his training and experience take over. He saw an opportunity and went for it. Until then, Morrison had always avoided killing innocent people. He didn’t want believe that he’d done it this time.

"Would you do it again if you could?" asked Ana, after a short silence.

“No. It didn’t work anyway.”

And even if it had worked, the price wasn’t worth it. Or, was it? No, it’s better not to even ask, Morrison  thought. Ana took a deep breath, she calmed down a bit.

"And what about Lena, was it really necessary to hit her?"

“Yes. Like I said, the other Helix soldiers were coming. There was no time to talk.”

"But, she was one of our agents, Jack. She’s always been true to Overwatch’s principles.”

“I don’t play follow the rules anymore, Ana. I have a mission. People either have to get out of my way or suffer the consequences.”

“Except when you fail, right?”

Morrison cringed.

“A minor setback. At least I found Winston and Tracer...”

"And are we fighting them again?" interrupted Ana.

Morrison sighed. He didn’t seem too excited about the idea either.

"Did you see Winston's reaction when he saw me? I don’t think we really have a choice.”

“Yes, we do. We can show ourselves without our masks, apologize and politely ask them to let us talk to this young woman.”

"They think we're dead, Ana. If we show up, we’ll have to answer all of their questions. We have to come up with some justification. Are you ready to do that?”

The former captain hesitated before answering. Obviously, she hadn’t thought about that. Now that Morrison brought it up, she wasn’t so sure.

"It’s better than fighting them again," she said in the end. “They represent who we were before.”

“Fine then. Your plan it is.”

_***_

“What’s the final report of the losses?” Fariha asked.

"Two dead and three seriously injured," the Major replied in a weary voice. “One will never be able to walk again.”

The two Helix officers were at their local headquarters in a briefing room. The Major wore a sleek, beige uniform.

Fariha Amari, or "Pharah", was wearing with a heavy set of blue and yellow armor, equipped with two propellers. She wore a captain's badge. Her face was very similar to her mother's; she had a tattoo under the right eye, representing the eye of Horus. She also had her mother’s black hair, with a shorter cut.

"It's never easy to lose soldiers," she said sympathetically. “You have my support.”

“Thank you, Captain. I just hope our superiors will be as understanding as you are.”

"They can’t blame you for what happened. I would have done the same thing in your place.”

“You'll explain that in your report, right?”

"Yes Major," said Phara very seriously.

He seemed enormously relieved.

"I didn’t think a former Overwatch agent would be able to do something like his," Phara continued in a sad voice. “Or that some of them could become criminals for that matter.”

The major looked at her, embarrassed.

“You know, Captain, given your family history, I think you’ve got a skewed notion of Overwatch. I can assure you that the truth is different from what the propaganda wants people to believe.”

Phrarah looked intrigued.

"You'll have to tell me sometime."

Just then, one of the computers in the room lit up and beeped, grabbing their attention. The Major looked at the screen.

“New orders just came in.”

“What is it?”

"We're bringing out the heavy artillery. No more unmarked armor and electric rifles; it’s Raptora  and lethal weapons for everyone. And we’ve been ordered to fire at sight in Tracer, Winston, Soldier 76 and the mystery shooter with him.”

He sighed, adding, “That’s brutal. I can understand taking down Soldier 76, but the others have done everything they could to avoid killing anyone. They’re bearing the brunt of 76’s mistakes.”

Pharah had a sad expression on her face for a second, but quickly mustered up an air of professionalism.

“But they chose to become outlaws. Now they have to face the consequences.”

“Orders are orders, as they say.”

“Exactly.”

_***_

"I'm curious, Hai," Winston began. “In your post online, you talked about a conspiracy against Overwatch. Can you tell us more about that?”

Winston, Tracer and the whistleblower were in the cockpit of the aircraft. They were on their way to the meeting point with the UN, who would arrange to protect Hai.

"Well, I couldn’t read all the documents about the conspiracy; there was so much information. But from what I've read, I know that a lot of important personalities, including Enki's director at the time, plotted together to take down Overwatch.”

"Do you know how they did it?" he asked.

“Yes, basically. The first part of their plan was to pressure the UN to dismantle Overwatch, even if it took corruption or blackmail. The second part was to pay an agent within the organization, to egg on internal conflicts and discredit the whole organization’s reputation.”

"That must have been Reyes's role," the scientist said sadly.

“Absolutely. Another document I read said that a different Overwatch agent would be in charge of giving evidence to the UN that would prove all the crimes committed by the organization.”

"False evidence, you mean?" asked Winston, alarmed.

Hai took a moment to think.

“I think the document just said ‘evidence.’ But for them, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s false or not.”

"Right, of course. That must be why they didn’t clarify that it the accusations were actually false," said the scientist, reassuring himself.

Winston took some time the think.

"But,” he added, “that would mean there was another traitor at Overwatch? Hm, probably one of Reyes's agents. Anyway, thank you for telling us," he said, kindly.

They kept chatting for a few minutes, when an emergency message popped up on one of the dashboards. Lena took the call, and Etienne's face appeared on the screen.

“Tracer, Winston, I have a bad news,” Etienne said. “Talon attacked the Enki Corporation.”

“What! But why?” Winston exclaimed.

“They probably stole some data. Nothing as confidential as what your new best friend recovered, but nothing trivial either.”

“Can we intervene?”

“Sorry, Winston. This time Talon managed to outwit my network. I’ll see what I can do to make it more responsive.”

“Okay. Thanks for warning us, Etienne.”

No one spoke, but the Frenchman stayed on the line.

“Ha! I won this time!” Etienne laughed.

"Yep," said Tracer, disappointed.

Winston sighed. "What were you betting on?"

"If you’d react when he called Hai our "new best friend,” Lena said.

“I don’t necessarily understand your jokes at first, but I don’t forget them once they’re explained,” Winston thought it necessary to mention.

“Winston, you're getting better!” Etienne said. “And Tracer, don’t forget: wine or cognac. But not that disgusting thing you roast beefs call ‘beer.’”

Tracer stuck out her tongue and Etienne burst out laughing before he disconnected.

"You know how to have a good laugh," Hai said with a smile.

"Both of them do," replied Winston.

"You’re such a downer, darling," Lena replied.

“Ha, ha, how kind. So…”

His face took on a more serious expression.

"Why would Talon steal data from Enki?"

No one had an answer.

An hour later they arrived at the meeting point; a flat open space, far from any activity. Another aircraft was already on the site, similar to the Overwatch carriers.

In front of the aircraft, they could see three identical silhouettes. They were robots, with metal bodies. They had two slits for eyes, and no mouths or noses. On their foreheads were nine colored dots in the shape of a square ; yellow dots on two of the robots and blue on the third.

The latter was a civil omnic, an autonomous artificial intelligence with a robotic body. Unlike their military counterparts, civilian omnics had never attacked humanity and, in some parts of the world, had integrated into human society.

The other two were drones, simple androids without a sense of free will.

"According to our welcome committee, it seems that most of the staff on the base are robots," Winston said. “It’s a way to keep information top secret.”

"Good morning," the omnic said politely as they approached them. “If Mademoiselle Yin is ready, we’ll welcome on board her immediately.”

His voice was loud, and clearly not a machine, not a human recording. The robot, however, was carefully designed to sound pleasant, never hostile.

"I'm curious," Winston said. “How will you ensure that Enki doesn’t find your base when they see that Hai’s tracing device stops working?”

“Our device is equipped with a miniaturized version of our jammers. The former employers of Mademoiselle Yin will lose track of her here, which is far from our true destination.”

“Brilliant!”

Winston and Tracer had to make sure they were putting Hai in good hands. After the incident with Helix, they had to be extra careful. After everything was in order, they were ready to part ways.

“Thank you again for everything,” Hai said to them.

"Don’t worry, darling. Take care of yourself.”

“You can count on us to find the data!” added Winston, enthusiastically.

The young woman, walked onto the aircraft, followed by the omnic and the two drones. Winston and Tracer watched it take off into the horizon.

"Well, we have a day left before you’re fully healed," Winston said to Tracer. “What do you want to do?”

"I have to buy wine for Etienne."

“Perfect, a shopping break!”

The two officers got back into their own aircraft and headed for the nearest town. They found a quiet place to land, and there, in front of their landing point, was Soldier 76, glaring at them through his red mask.


	12. Chapter 10

Morrison stared at Winston and Tracer’s aircraft in front of him.

For anyone other than the former Commander and Ana, it would’ve been impossible to track down the Overwatch agents so quickly. But the two veterans knew the routines and equipment of their old crew like the back of their hand.

The ramp lowered and Winston walked down first.

“You again!” he yelled angrily when he saw Soldier 76. “This time I won’t…”

Jack took off his mask.

Winston's expression shifted from anger to complete surprise. He couldn’t comprehend what he saw in front of him.

“Commander Morrison?” he asked finally.

“Hello, Winston.”

The scientist was awestruck, looking at his former Commander in a daze. Jack continued.

"So, you're trying to do my job now?"

Winston snapped out of it.

"Someone has to do it," he said with great dignity.

Soldier 76 nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and turned round.

“You can come out!” he shouted.

"I told you it was a silly precaution, Jack!" Ana’s voice answered.

The old woman came out of her cover.

"Captain Amari!" the scientist exclaimed. “You’re alive too!”

“Good morning, Winston. I’m sorry I had to give you the sleeping injection before. But you were a bit too enthusiastic when you were trying to honor the memory of Jack…”

She chuckled.

Just then, Tracer came out of the aircraft.

"What's going on, big guy? I heard you talking with…”

 Lena stared at the two veterans, completely baffled.

“Is my chrono-accelerator malfunctioning, Winston?” she asked in amazement.

“No Tracer, I think this is real.”

Winston spread his arms as if to embrace them.

"How wonderful it is that you’re still alive! With your help...”

"Winston, we have to talk to this woman, Hai Yin," Jack interrupted.

Suddenly the scientist looked worried.

"Oh, well…we’ve just handed her over to the UN to hide her at a secret base."

“Damn!” Morrison cursed.

"Did she tell you anything about the conspiracy against Overwatch?" Ana asked. “Names? Traces? Clues?”

"Yes, as a matter of fact" replied Winston. “And we might even know more than that!”

"Whoa, whoa," Tracer interrupted him.

She pointed to Soldier 76.

"First of all, he broke my rib," she said.

"You were in my way," Morrison replied.

"Wait a minute," Winston piped in. “It was a misunderstanding! I hit him too. But everything’s perfectly clear now.”

"And he killed Helix's soldiers," the pilot insisted.

"It was an accident," Morrison said.

“You see?” the scientist added. “Nothing to argue about.”

He turned back to brief the two veterans.

“Hai has given us some information that will no doubt be of interest you. But there's more: she told us where she’s hidden all the stolen data from the Enki Corporation, including the proof that there was a conspiracy against Overwatch.”

The scientist continued enthusiastically.

“We’ve been given the task to recover the data and hand it over to the Chinese government, for the lawsuit against Enki. Help us find it and we’ll make a copy together!”

 Morrison looked Winston in the eyes with absolute determination.

“Let's do it.”

_***_

"This data is even more useful than I thought," said Reaper in a voice that was—for him—quite enthusiastic.

He pointed at a spot on the holographic map: Lijang Tower.

“Hai spent a whole ten minutes here, a totally deserted part of the Tower, while everywhere else she moved at a fast pace. Any fool could figure out that this is where the data is hidden.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Amelie asked in a cold, monotone voice. “We have a mission to accomplish.”

“We won’t be able to do it without being spotted. And as soon as we get there, they’ll all come for us: Jack, Ana, Tracer, the monkey, Helix Security, the Chinese Army...”

“…Too many to fight at once.”

“Yes. In with this kind of situation, we have to split up our enemies and take them on separately.”

“I suppose you have a plan?”

“Of course. But we’ll have to be patient. We’ll let them make the first move.”

_***_

"Big guy," Lena whispered. “You saw what happened! You saw the reports in the media!”

“Come on, Tracer. You and I both knew that Helix could fight on the wrong side. So it’s not completely impossible that they lied about the collateral damages that Soldier 76 caused to give him a bad reputation. I mean…it’s Commander Morrison! Our mentor! Our leader!”

The two agents were talking in low voices in the cockpit, while their former officers looked at a holographic map of where Hai hid the data.

They had quickly update each other while Ana applied some medical nanites to Tracer, speeding up the healing process. Ana had also asked the scientist if he could fix her broken mask, and Winston had enthusiastically accepted.

“So why didn’t he tell us that he’d survived the explosion in Switzerland? Why is he wearing a mask? Why didn’t he try to rebuild Overwatch like you did? Why did he attack us and not reveal his identity until now, after he failed? Something’s clearly not right, big guy!”

"I'm sure he can explain everything."

“Then let's ask him!”

“Well…I hit him not so long ago. It’s slightly uncomfortable. Isn’t it best to leave it be for now? It’ll be easier to talk once we retrieve the data. Then all trust will be restored. Do you see what I mean?”

“Winston, I'm supposed to be the naive optimist and you’re supposed to be the serious guy with the brains.”

"Just the fact that you can say that proves that it’s not true. Theoretically, you have the ability to think just as well as I do. And I'm afraid it's been proven that I can also be naive.”

Lena sighed, exasperated.

"Come on Tracer, don’t you see? Now that the commander’s back, he'll be able to take over Overwatch. It’ll be just like it was before!”

"Big guy," said Lena, "nothing can ever be the same as before. Believe me, I know,” she said, gently patting the chrono-accelerator.

“Just try to be patient, all right? I’m sure that in a few days you’ll be as delighted as I am.”

Tracer looked at Winston. He’d saved her from a fate worse than death, and since then had become her best friend. The scientist’s enthusiasm was almost palpable. Lena couldn’t find in herself to take away his joy.

“Okay, big guy. I’ll try.”

Winston gave her a delighted smile.

The scientist started working on Ana's cracked mask, while Tracer read an aviation magazine. To her surprise, Ana sat down next to her.

"You don’t look very well, Lena," Ana said in a maternal voice.

"You’re right," she said.

"What’s bothering you?" the older woman with an understanding smile.

Tracer hesitated for a few seconds; she wasn’t sure if she should trust Ana and Morrison now. But Ana’s voice reminded her of who she was before, at the height of Overwatch. Lots of young women saw Tracer as a role model, but Captain Amari had been an inspiration for Tracer. She was someone who Tracer greatly admired, and trusted completely. Those feelings still lingered.

“Where do I start?! First of all, I don’t even recognize the Commander anymore. He seems so... cold.”

She continued energetically:

"Ok, it’s true, in the old days he was a tough guy. But we all knew that on the inside, he was like a teddy bear. He was a father figure to all of us. But now…he feels like a stranger.”

She looked at Ana in the eyes as she continued in a somewhat accusatory voice.

"And as for you, there's something I don’t get. Why did you pretend to be dead for seven years? We needed you, cap’!”

Ana's face became even sadder at these words.

“After I failed to defeat Widowmaker, I felt completely useless. I thought it was time for me to retire, to leave it all behind. But you're absolutely right, Lena. It was a mistake. Forgive me, please.”

The humility of her words took Tracer aback.

“Of course I forgive you, cap '. I made some mistakes too.”

Ana smiled gratefully, then carried on in her sad tone.

“As for the commander…he suffered, Lena. Really. Overwatch was his whole life. He served the world for so long. He obeyed orders, respected the limits, and always made sure he didn’t abuse his power. And as a reward, he was betrayed. Not only by someone who was supposed to be his most faithful friend, but also by the very people he swore he’d defend. And his failure to retaliate caused more loss to Overwatch than the last twenty years combined. He’s been forced to have so many deaths weighing on his conscience.”

Tracer listened silently, disturbed by her explanation.

"Now," Ana went on, "he’s got a hard shell that protects him from this immense pain. We need to help him heal, Lena. And when he does, he’ll be the old Jack again.”

“But are you sure he’s on the best road to healing, cap’? His current lifestyle doesn’t seem like good karma to me.”

"I can’t judge what’s best for him."

“Cap ', if one of our friends makes a mistake, it’s our responsibility to tell them! I myself wouldn’t have become who I am if you hadn’t advised me so many times!”

“I found it!” exclaimed Winston in a voice so loud that everyone in the aircraft heard it.

“Found what?” Jack asked, looking up from the holographic map.

“Why Talon attacked Enki Corporation!”

"Well, go on!" Ana insisted, smiling.

“According to my calculations, there’s an 81% chance that it was to retrieve the archives of Hai’s tracker, so that they can extrapolate the exact location of where she hid the data.”

"Does that mean that Widowmaker might already be retrieving the information?" asked Morrison.

“Yes. And there's a 97% chance that Reaper is with her.”

“I killed him at the police station.”

“Oh! How did you do that?”

“I shot him.”

“Ah. Commander, I don’t want to be unpleasant, but, I once used an electric shock powerful enough to destroy him. He just became a cluster of undefined black particles. But later, I had to face him again, in fully functioning form. I don’t think mere physical damage is enough to eliminate it.”

“Then the situation is even worse than I thought. We have to leave now, before Talon destroys us.”

"Jack," Ana interjected. “Lijang Tower is teeming with cameras, police and other security agents. We'll be spotted in less than a minute. And it will take about as long for Helix forces to stop us, including my daughter. I’d rather avoid any confrontation.”

"Not to mention that this place contains a very high concentration of civilians," added Winston. “In case of a shootout, the probabilities of collateral damage are not insignificant. We should do everything we can to limit the risks.”

"I doubt Talon will give us any choice," replied Morrison.

"We can at least try, Jack," Ana said softly.

“Well what do you suggest?”

“We’ll all go together, but once we’re in sight of the security cameras, you let me go in alone. I'm not wanted, unlike you three, and my face has changed a lot since the old propaganda posters. They probably won’t recognize me. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to get to the data and come out without a problem.”

"But if Talon shows up, it’ll be you against two. And if they beat you before we can intervene, the data will be lost. It’s too risky.”

"But Commander," Winston said, "it’s the least dangerous plan for the civilians. Protecting them is our priority, isn’t it?”

“The priority is to recover the data.”

There was a silence in the room after these words.

“Jack, please, let me try,” Ana said. “I promise you that if these two psychos ever show up, I’ll be able to stall them long enough before you to jump in.”

The former commander hesitated for a few seconds.

"Okay," he finally agreed.

Before adding:

“You’ve got two minutes to get ready. Then we leave for Lijang Tower. It's time to end this.”


	13. Chapter 11

"The targets have been spotted," Widowmaker said coldly.

"Good," Reaper replied. “Everything is according to plan.”

The sniper was standing on the roof of a skyscraper across from the Lijang Tower. Through the scope of her rifle, she could see Soldier 76, Tracer, Winston and Ana, wearing her newly repaired mask. The four Overwatch agents were walking down a deserted alleyway, cautiously approaching the tower down.

"I'm transferring the data," the assassin said.

_***_

“Major, we’ve just received information from an anonymous source about the location of the fugitives.”

Pharah and the Helix Major walked towards their assistant.

"Let’s see," he said.

On the assistant's computer was an image showing the four former Overwatch agents walking discreetly down the alley.

“Did you locate the place where the photo was taken?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm, it could be a fake, but it's worth checking out. Do you want to be in charge of this, captain?”

"It would be a pleasure," the young lady said, enthusiastically. The prospect of a new mission excited her. “It’s time to set things straight.”

“Good luck, then. I think you're going to need it.”

Pharah saluted them and left the room.

_***_

Ana walked quietly through the night market of the Lijang Tower. It was a lively place, full of shops with colorful signs, and bustling with customers. Lots of private night guards watched over the stalls. The place was well-equipped with security cameras.

To avoid drawing any attention, Ana had taken off her mask, handed her rifle to her teammates and hid her other weapons. She wore her hood, but made it look like she wanted to stay warm rather than hide her face. The few people who saw her were too distracted with their own business to notice that this old, one-eyed woman was actually the famous Overwatch captain.

 

"I'm approaching the hiding place," she said into her headset. “Everything okay on your side?

"Nothing to ..." Morrison was cut off by the sound of an engine.

Then Ana heard an explosion.

“What’s happening?” she asked, nervously.

“It's Helix! They’ve found us!”

An alarm went off in the tower.

“Attention. Anyone who is not a security employee is asked to leave the tower immediately. This is not a drill.”

Anna cursed, but her voice was lost in the commotion.

_***_

Ten Helix soldiers were equipped with full, beige-colored armor, and propellers with small wings. Pharah's armor was very similar yet seemed like a more advanced prototype.

The captain and his soldiers held rocket launchers at the ready, while some soldiers had assault rifles and shotguns.

"The targets we’re approaching are extremely dangerous," Pharah said to her squad. “One of them is directly responsible for the deaths of two of our agents. We need to be careful.”

They nodded. The aircraft door opened. They were still 30 or so meters above the ground, but with their Raptora armor, the height didn’t pose a problem. The soldiers jumped and quickly activated their propellers, letting them to hover in mid-air. Then they dropped down to the spot where the Overwatch team was, the same place they saw in the photo.

They saw Morrison, Winston and Tracer, about waiting for something to happen.

“Targets spotted,” Pharah said into the headset. “We’re going in.”

"Received, Pharah," replied the Major. “I’ll launch an alert in the area and send you two more squads for reinforcement. Be careful.”

Fariha pointed her gun at the three agents. For a second she felt a pang of uncertainty. The people she was about to shoot had once been an inspiration to her; she’d dreamed of working with them for a long time.

But orders were orders.

She fired, and her squad followed suit, shooting a barrage of missiles and bullets down on the former Overwatch team.

_***_

Morrison jumped under cover. He knew this wouldn’t be nearly enough to stop the attack. He clinched his teeth instinctively in anticipation of the pain.

Then a series of explosions blasted above him. He looked up and saw a circular force field of energy which surrounded them.

"A new invention," Winston said proudly.

But the energy barrier looked damaged after the explosion, which had torn slits through it.

"My weapons won’t reach them!” Tracer yelled.

"Mine will!" Jack said. “I'll activate my tactical visor.”

He pressed a button on the side of his mask. A holographic interface appeared in front of his eyes and he started to shoot.

Years of training and practice, plus his physical enhancements, made the former Overwatch Commander an excellent shooter. But his reflexes at that moment were phenomenal; his perfect aim was above and beyond what any normal human could achieve.

In just a few seconds, Morrison's shots neutralized the Helix soldiers’ weapons, then damaged their engines, forcing them to make an urgent landing. Pharah was the only one who quickly lowered her altitude, hiding her from Morrison’s sight.

“Woo!” Tracer shouted. “That was wicked!”

The holographic interface disappeared from Private 76’s mask.

“No time for discretion, he said. “We go in!”

They ran towards Lijang Tower.

_***_

"The Helix forces have been defeated," Widowmaker said in an emotionless voice. She’d watched the whole scene ensue from the rooftop position.

"That was faster than I thought," Reaper said, annoyed. “You’ll have to stall them until we’ve got everything in place.”

"Done," Amélie answered coldly.

For a second, the assassin wasn’t sure who to target first, but deciding on Soldier 76. She wanted to be the one to kill the famous Commander Morrison.

She fired a bullet directly at Jack's head. But at the last moment, the shot was blocked by the barrier field, which Winston put up in the nick of time.

“Damn!” Amélie cursed.

_***_

"This shield is highly practical indeed," the scientist commented. “I should have invented it sooner!”

“Is it mobile?” asked Morrison.

“Ah, no, Commander. Sorry.”

“So, we have to stay underneath it, as long as Widowmaker is still there.”

Morrison assessed the distance.

"She's too far away for my rifle," he said, irritated.

“I'll take care of it!” Tracer energetically stepped up. “I have a score to settle with this psycho.”

She disappeared in a blue flash.

_***_

After the alert, the people started to evacuate the scene relatively calmly, led by the security guards. Lots of them were complaining about the inconvenience, and some joking around. Many weren’t taking the situation seriously. Ana—the only one who knew what was happening—was trying to find her team as soon as possible.

Suddenly, peoples heard automatic gunfire blaring, and the crowd got distressed.

Talon forces, led by Reaper, had broken into the complex, attacking the security agents.

The civilians started to panic and ran from the terrorists. Chaos ensued. Ana got caught in the crowd and was forced run with them.

But it was a trap.

A second squad of Talon agents appeared on the opposite side, blocking the civilians.

“Get into the building now!” shouted the squad leader, pointing to a mall. “If you don’t cooperate, you’ll be shot!”

Faced with Talon’s weapons, the crowds had no choice but to comply. Ana hid behind a trash can, put on her mask and pulled out one of her syringes. She waited until the nearest Talon agent was right next to her.  She quickly jabbed a syringe in one of the gaps in the terrorist's armor. He fell to the ground, unconscious. Ana ran to join her teammates.

_***_

"Widowmaker’s gone," Morrison said. “She must know that Tracer’s coming for her. Let's keep going, quickly!”

Winston nodded and they both went on. They found Ana.

“Reaper and his squad are taking hostages in the market!” Ana told them, taking her rifle that Winston had been carrying for her.

"That bastard!” said Jack. “We'll take care of him. Ana, you…”

A rocket exploded just next to them, forcing them to take cover. Winston quickly used his barrier.

"You can’t escape the law, Soldier!" a female voice shouted.

“It's Fariha!” Ana said, seeing her blue and yellow armor.

"She’s not alone," Winston said, pointing in the opposite direction.

Two other squads of Helix soldiers had just arrived.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Talon's agents started to position themselves in the empty shops of the night market.

"You two, stop all these guys from coming in as long as you can," Morrison ordered. “I'll take care of Reaper.”


	14. Chapter 14

Amelie smiled wickedly when she saw a bluish flash in the distance.

“Everything ready?” she said to Reaper in her headset.

"Yes.”

“Good. I'll get rid of this foolish girl.”

The assassin activated her visor and spied on Tracer for a few seconds. Then she climbed down from her position before coming to a small alley.

She stretched out her left arm, activating a mechanism on her bracelet. But this time it wasn’t her grapple hook. Instead, a small flask containing a violet liquid came out, with eight mechanical legs attached to it, standing only a few centimeters from the ground. The device clung to a wall, while Widowmaker went to hide.

A few seconds later, Tracer ran down the alley. When she got close to the vial, it exploded and a violet cloud spread in the air. Lena started coughing and had to stop running.

"So predictable," Amelie scoffed as she emerged from her hiding spot, pointing her gun at Tracer.

Just as Amelie pulled the trigger, Lena's body morphed into bluish energy that backtracked her movements in a flash, disappearing from Widowmaker's sight.

But the assassin still had a smile on her face. She went to hide in another lane, activating the precision mode on her weapon.

"She's heading this way now," she murmured confidently.

But Tracer came from the opposite direction.

She reappeared behind Widowmaker, shooting a hail of bullets at her. But Amelie’s extraordinary reflexes allowed her to shift in time.

"Surprised to see me, love?" Tracer said.

There was a blue flash and Tracer popped up in front of Amelie, who hadn’t found her bearings after the shots. Tracer struck her with the butt of her gun. Widowmaker staggered back and Tracer kicked her to the ground.

“This time I win!” the Overwatch agent shouted.

"Not yet," Amelie replied.

Amelie held out her arm and the grapple whipped out, propelling it at Tracer. To double the impact, Widowmaker kicked her enemy in one swift movement.

Lena was knocked out by the blow. She screamed in pain and dropped her weapon, falling to the ground and unable to push herself up.

"Just accept it, “chérie”. I’m better than you," said Amelie, mockingly.

She was smiled with pride, then hit Tracer with her weapon.

"So long," Amélie said, aiming the gun at tracer.

Lena knew that if she didn’t do something, she’d be killed. She pulled something out that was strapped to her back and threw it at Widowmaker. It wasn’t clear what the triangular, metal object was at first. But Amélie, had already seen one of these. She knew it was a bomb.

Amelie started to run for cover, but the explosion blinded her for a few seconds. When she could open her eyes again, Tracer had disappeared.

Annoyed, Amelie picked up her opponent's guns then flicked out her grapple hook and headed for Lijang tower.

_***_

Morrison rushed into the night market. One of Talon's agents tried to shoot him, but Morrison jumped out of the way and fired back, taking down the agent. Soldier 76 disappeared into the building.

Meanwhile, Helix's troops had landed on the ground and fired, some shooting at Winston’s barrier, others at the Talon agents. The terrorists fired back to prevent them from infiltrating into the market.

"You'll have to take care of them while I get in position," Ana said to the scientist.

"But don’t you want to talk to your daughter? You could convince her to help us fight Talon!"

Ana hesitated for a second, which seemed like an eternity amidst the gunfire.

"No," she answered. “I don’t think she’d understand why I still support Jack…I don’t want to have to deal with that. Not right now, not like this.”

A rocket fell on the barrier, causing some cracks.

"I really would have preferred not to face her," continued the former captain. “But we don’t have a choice!”

More shots landed on the barrier and it shattered.

“Go Winston, it’s up to you!”

"At your service, Captain."

The scientist activated his propellers and landed near to two Talon agents. Winston punched one of them, sending him flying to the ground. Then the scientist activated his weapon. Sparks of electricity shot out from the cannon at the second terrorist, who tried to fight back with his assault rifle, but the bullets only ricocheted off of Winston's armor. The Talon agent fell to the ground, overwhelmed by the electric shock.

Then, a rocket that Pharah fired fell on a bench where one of the Talon agents was hiding, creating a massive explosion. After seeing another one of their agents killed by Helix, the Talon squads decided to withdraw.

“Squad 2, with me, inside!” Pharah ordered. “There are hostages in here, we have to release them! Squad 1 and 3, neutralize Winston and the bounty hunter.”

She ran in, following Morrison’s path.

"Winston," Ana said into the headset, “Soldier 76 ordered us to block their access. You have to stop them breaking in!”

“Are you sure? They’re going to save the hostages. We should let them do it.”

“I trust Soldier 76 to handle that. Stop them!”

Winston activated his propellers and got in front of the Helix squad to block the market entrance. They immediately opened fire on him.

Despite the scientist’s heavy armor and physical strength, he couldn’t match the two well-trained squads. He moaned in pain as they shot at him.

Fortunately, Ana, who had gotten into a covert position, shot Winston a few syringes filled with medical nanites so that the scientist could handle the surge of rapid fire.

Winston used this support to attack the soldiers with his cannon.

“Lift-off!” Pharah ordered as the gorilla advanced.

She and her troops activated their flying mechanisms and rose into the air, out of reach of Winston's weapon. Frustrated, Winston activated his own thrusters to fly up.

“Land!” Pharah ordered.

Helix's troops suddenly dropped to the ground, controlling their fall through their thrusters. They crossed Winston’s level in the air for half a second, barely enough time for the scientist to attack.

“You’re starting to annoy me!” Winston yelled.

 

He dropped his cannon, then rose with a ferocious roar, suddenly taking on a wild, bestial movement. His skin turned red as lightning flashed through his body. A rage had come over him, the same rage that drove the Horizon test gorillas to revolt. Now, Winston used it to his advantage.

“Now that’s what I like to see!” Ana said, smiling.

She launched a syringe containing a blue liquid towards Winston. The effect on the gorilla was immediate: a blue orb of electricity emanated and flashed around Winston's body, on top of the flashes from the gorilla’s rage. The result was terrifying.

"Fire!" Pharah yelled.

But Winston’s body was now resistant because of Ana’s nanites. He charged forward moving much faster than before, ignoring the shower of bullets coming at him. The Helix soldiers couldn’t dodge his punches that smashied the soldiers, sending them flying like bowling pins. The gorilla’s strength had increased tenfold.

Pharah got in front of Winston and activated a mechanism on her armor. A few gaps opened up in her armor and miniature rockets emerged, hurtling directly at the gorilla.

“Justice rain from above!” cried the captain.

The rockets’ effect was stronger than the two squads combined, and was enough to destabilize Winston, despite the medical nanites.

From her position, Ana took out her handgun and shot a syringe right at Pharah. The shot stabbed through her armor and immediately injected the liquid: a powerful sleeping potion. The Helix officer immediately sank into a deep sleep.

"Looks like justice could use a little nap," Ana said.

Free from Phara’s hail of rockets, Winston could now attack the Helix troops, who had no way of fighting back the unstoppable gorilla.

Winston raised his fist to strike a Helix soldier on the ground. His fist came full speed at the unconscious man, but stopped halfway.

The scientist suddenly lost his red glow and went back on all fours. His face went back to normal, and he had a worried expression.

"I ... I don’t think I’ve killed any of them. Have I?” he asked Ana.

“They’ll probably have to spend a few weeks in the hospital, some longer than others, but yes, they’ll survive. You always seem to be able to control yourself, even in that state.”

Winston sighed with relief.

Suddenly there was a blueish flash and Tracer appeared. She was unarmed and had a disturbing bruise on her face.

"I'm sorry. She managed to beat me...again," Lena said in an angry tone.

"You stalled her for long enough though, so we could block the entrance,” Ana reassured her. “That’s the main thing.”

She turned to the night market. “Now let's see how Jack holding up.”

_***_

Reaper was on the lookout. He was sitting at the back of an instant noodle restaurant, right across from the mall where his agents led the hostages a few minutes earlier.

He opened an electrical control panel but couldn’t see anything unusual. He broke a plank, but still nothing caught his eye. Then, finally, Reaper moved a loose stone slab aside. Just underneath it were two data keys in a plastic bag. He immediately grabbed it.

"I won’t let you give it to Talon!" Morrison shouted as he walked on the scene.

"I strongly doubt that, Jack," Reaper replied.

“That data has the answer to the explosion that killed so many of our agents, and transformed you into what you are. Don’t you want to know who is responsible, Gabriel?”

“I know who’s responsible: you and all the others at Overwatch.”

“You fool! You’re full of hatred, just as you were obsessed with power!”

“No. I just had to pay the price of your incompetence! But one day, Jack, we'll settle the score.”

“Go ahead, try!” Morrison said, pointing his gun at the dark figure.

But to his surprise, Reaper held back. He took out a timer and pushed the button.

“I’d love to kill you, Jack. But I have a mission to accomplish. And missions always comes first. So I took precautions, knowing you’d try to stop me from delivering the data.”

A countdown sound was heard in the mall. Morrison quickly turned his head and saw dozens of civilians trapped inside behind the barred doors.

And on one of these doors there was an explosive pack, with ten seconds to go on the countdown.

"We both know what you're going to do," Reaper continued. “Goodbye, Jack. I’m sure we'll meet again.”

He turned and started to run towards the Talon aircraft waiting for him.

Morrison hesitated for a second. He could see dozens of civilians who were about die, unless he stopped the bomb. On the other hand, Reaper was running off with the data, with all the names of those who betrayed him, destroyed his organization and killed so many of his agents.

The first duty of Overwatch was to protect the innocent. Morrison had dedicated his life to this ideal. So had all of his agents, his family.

But his old life had long disappeared. It was destroyed, along with Overwatch's headquarters, in an explosion that had killed so many of his own.

He hadn’t been able protect them, or to do them justice. And the culprits had gone unpunished for too long.

Soldier 76 started running after Reaper.

The countdown stopped and the explosion went off, immediately killing the dozens of people trapped in the mall.

Morrison yelled, shooting at Gabriel from behind. The dark silhouette staggered from the tremor of the explosion.

"What!” Reaper shouted in shock.

Jack lunged towards him and knocked him down with his gun.

“You let them die?” Gabriel said in total amazement. “After all the speeches you gave me?”

Reaper started to laugh.

"You’re just a hypocrite after all.”

Soldier 76 started to punch him.

"Shut…up…you…dirty…traitor!” he yelled, stressing each word with a blow.

But Reaper kept laughing, mockingly.

Morrison stopped punching him and tried to grab the data keys.

Suddenly a bullet lodged in Morrison's mask, right between his eyes. The old veteran collapsed.

"A legend falls," Amelie whispered, far away from where she’d fired.

Reaper crawled in pain and picked up the data keys. He got up to look at Jack's body, but heard footsteps coming. He saw Winston’s massive silhouette in the distance. Gabriel started to run.

It took him a few minutes to get to his aircraft where he found Widowmaker and the Talon agents who’d survived the battle.

"Nice shot," he said to the assassin.

"Good plan," she replied with a smile.

Reaper showed her the data keys.

“Mission accomplished. Let's find your superiors.”


	15. Epilogue

Ana, Tracer and Winston were advancing through the night market. They were horrified. They’d seen the smoldering ruins of the mall and could only assume what had happened.

“Commander!” Winston yelled, seeing Morrison.

Morrison sat with his legs straight out and his back against a wall. His face was left uncovered and his mask lay on the ground, broken in half.

“What happened?” the scientist asked. “How are all hostages...?”

"Reaper was running away with the data," he replied. “I had to make a choice.”

They could hear the suffering in his voice, although he managed to speak almost normally.

“Jack…” Ana said, “don’t tell me that…”

She hesitated, then stopped.

“You let them die to get the data?!” Tracer yelled.

"And I would have succeeded if Widowmaker hadn’t shot at me."

A pained expression came over his face.

"All this hunting, all of these battles, all of these sacrifices…and I’m back to the starting point.”

Jack felt it again. The rage, the burning sensation because of his failure. But this suffering was a good thing. It urged him to continue. Morrison couldn’t stop now. He owed it to others.

He looked confident, and spoke with an unshakeable determination.

“I won’t give up. That’s exactly what they want. But the Overwatch agents who lost their lives will have their justice.”

“At what price?” Winston asked, solemnly.

Morrison raised his head and looked him in the eyes.

“Whatever it takes.”

The scientist shook his head, upset.

"I refused to believe it before. But now I’m forced to accept it. Everything they said about you is true. The reality is even worse.”

 “It's easy for you to say. You weren’t there, you haven’t been through what I’ve…”

“I was there when the other Horizon gorillas killed my mentor and all of his friends and forced me to flee the place I always considered my home! But I’ve chosen to move forward and dedicate my life to making this world a better place!”

Morrison couldn’t find the words to respond. But his pride stopped him from admitting it, or loosing eye contact with Winston.

"You aren’t seeking justice, you’re seeking vengeance," said Winston. “And you're not Commander Morrison. You’re just his ghost.”

He turned away and added, “In memory of old days, I won’t punish you today. But if you keep committing these crimes, we’ll put an end to it.”

"You’re as much of an outlaw as I am," Soldier 76 said.

“No. I don’t have blood on my hands.”

After these words, Winston left, leaving behind a deeply troubled Morrison.

Ana and Tracer had watched the scene without intervening, deeply distressed.

"Come with us, captain," said Lena. “You don’t have to help this…guy. And we need you. The world needs you.”

She spoke in a low voice so that Morrison couldn’t hear.

“I can’t. I have to help him,” Ana said softly. “It’s my first duty, above all else. Even above the responsibilities for my daughter.”

“Why cap'? Why are you so loyal to a man who doesn’t deserves it?”

Ana's face was a mixture of sadness and anger.

"When you asked me why I passed myself off as dead and disappeared to the world for seven years, I said that it was because it was time to pass on my role to a new generation. But it was a lie.”

She sounded ashamed.

"The truth is, I was tired of fighting and killing. I joined the army by family tradition and fought to save the world from Omnium. It was easy to fire at automatons made of metal. But then the enemy became human, and each shot added weight to my conscience—a weight that became more and more difficult to bear.”

Her hands started to tremble.

"And one day I was defeated. So instead of picking myself up and continuing the fight, I used this excuse to give up. To disappear. And when Overwatch was attacked, when Jack and Gabriel started conflicting and we needed stability more than ever...I was gone. So I could have stopped everything.”

Ana started to cry.

“My weakness has cost the lives of hundreds of agents, my family, and it turned Jack into the man he is today. It’s my fault that he’s become this cold and violent person!”

Tracer replied in a gentle and compassionate voice.

“Cap ', you know that's not true. Those rats who attacked Overwatch are the ones to blame. And after all you've done, nobody can blame you for wanting to call it quits.”

"You know as much as I do that letting a crime unfold before your eyes, when you have the power to prevent it, makes you complicit. Didn’t you even accuse me of being absent when the world needed me?” Ana answered.

Tracer frowned. This kind of debate was not her forte.

“But cap ', the commander chose to become like that. It’s his fault, not yours.”

“Try to tell yourself that while the pain of guilt is overwhelming, and the only thing you can think of is what the future would have been if you’d acted differently.”

The pilot remained silent. She couldn’t find the words to respond.

"It's impossible, Lena," Ana said. “Simply impossible.”

Tracer lowered her head. Her face, usually so cheerful, was ravage by sadness.

“Well, goodbye, cap '.”

“Goodbye, Lena.”

Once Tracer left, Ana wiped her tears before going back to Morrison.

“You're still here?” he asked, surprised.

“What a stupid question, Jack. Of course I'm here.”

As he was hurt, Soldier 76 didn’t realize that his teammate’s voice was tense and her smile false.

"You ought to go with the other two. It’s better for me to bear this burden alone. It's my mission.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Jack.”

She knelt down, picked up the pieces of his broken mask, slid Morrison's arm under her shoulder and helped the former commander get up.

“Let's go. We have to take care of your wound, find someone to repair your mask and look at the data that the fence gave us.”

“Ana...”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t worry, Jack. We're a team, right?”

They slowly walked away together.


End file.
